Harry Potter and the Dawn of Honor
by Jaing
Summary: Harry Potter/HH crossover. In progress as of right... now. Remastering in progress - the first chapters are not indicative of current writing quality/length. Remastered up to Chap. 3 as of 3/13/13. See Chap 17/18 for that. Ch.17 - 3/10/13, Ch.18 - 3/12/13
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

Alright people, here's my crossover number two. Now, I realize that the author of one of the universes here has asked pretty nicely for no fanfics regarding it until he's done with the series, but I'm sorry, I'm enthralled. I dream in that universe, to be frank about it.

And here, the events at the end of DH (deaths of certain red-headed twins come to mind) NEVER happened, but there is a battle at Hogwarts. Matter fact, that's where we begin. And for the odd concept that comes up, it's and idea/plot bunny that's been running around in my head for a while. Oh, and for those of you who don't like Ginny and Harry being together(that's how I'm writing it.), well... I guess you have to deal with it. Sorry, but that's just how it is.

Disclaimer: I only own characters/places/things not seen in the books/movies/real life/etc.

Edit: Remastered to my current quality.

/o\

_**Chapter One: A Battle, and a Beginning**_

"Harry!" Hermione called. Another explosion rocked the castle. Masonry fell, windows shattered, and suits of armor crashed to the ground as they fought under McGonagall's command. Hogwarts, the only home Harry had ever known, was under siege.

"Harry, where are you?!" she yelled, her voice barely coming above the furious cacophony of explosions, screams and falling rubble. Harry sprinted around the corner, panting hard. His clothes were dirty and stained with dust, blood, and nastier things.

"Are you alright?" he asked Hermione, whose hair was mussed and a cut had opened up above her right eyebrow. She nodded at his question, blinking away a trickle of blood that was flowing into her eye.

"We've got to get out of here! Round up everyone you can!" she said, and Harry didn't need telling twice. He dashed off through the castle, lending a hand to the dozens of small skirmishes he met along the way. Spreading the word as far and as fast as he could, he ran through terrified students and Order members alike, as they all retreated to the Room of Requirement as fast as their legs could carry them.

Curses sped by him, trying to keep him from his mission of getting as many people out safe as he could and giving any Death Eater that crossed his path a beating to remember. None stopped him, though many tried. Curses missed him, blows lost their target as he flowed around his attackers, hexing and cursing their backs as he could. Liberal use of his Invisibility cloak was probably the only thing that saved him – and more than a little luck.

Ron and Percy, along with Oliver Wood and Angelina Johnson, were running a delaying action, buying time for as many people as they could to get away. A black figure suddenly loomed among them, and Harry raised his wand. "_Stupefy!_" he cried, and the figure tumbled off down the passageway, with a small shriek as it hit a wall, and lay still.

Ron looked up. "Thanks mate." he said. Harry nodded.

"No problem." Harry replied. Harry knelt down next to them, sending curses hurling down the corridors at any Death Eater or creature that showed their head.

After what seemed like an hour, Hermione rushed towards them. "Everyone's on their way to the Hog's Head, let's get out of here!" she gasped, panting. Without pausing to let herself rest a moment, she turned on her heel and ran up the staircase, and then they began their own mad dash for the Room of Requirement and the back door to Aberforth's house and freedom.

A dozen Death Eaters stood at the door way of the Room, fighting with the witches and wizards who'd been standing sentry against an attack. Two lay on the floor, and the approaching former students had no idea whether they were alive or dead. There would be enough time to find out later.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Percy, Oliver, and Angelina swept through them like a hammer blow, surprise on their side. Within mere seconds, the dozen Death Eaters who had been besieging the only safe route out of the castle were most definitely dead. "Let's go!" Hermione shouted to the sentries, who eagerly obeyed, lifting their fallen compatriots and pulling them into the Room, which promptly sealed itself shut, the entrance vanishing.

With the door shut behind them, the last of the students filtering though the escape tunnel behind the portrait of Aberforth's sister. Harry sat down against the wall, panting, and Ginny collapsed next to him on the wall, hugging him, not quite caring that Ron was there, who himself was being wrapped up in an exhausted hug by Hermione.

As the castle began to shake itself apart under the relentless attack of the forces outside (who were battling with the Castle's own, not inconsiderable mobile defenses), the last of the Order members filed out, trailing Harry and Ginny, along with everyone else still in the room, walking through the door, exhausted, weary, and beaten.

_**Admiral's Quarters of HMS Invictus, Manticore**_

Admiral Honor Harrington, Royal Manticoran Navy, sat back in the comfortable chair behind her desk in the Admiral's Quarters on the _Invictus_, sifting tiredly through the mounds of paperwork left to her by the Admiralty. In the weeks since the Havenites attack, there had been mounds of it every day, and Honor was quite sure that it would not abate for some time.

More than six hundred _thousand_ Manticoran Alliance personnel had died that day, in contrast to the one-point-seven _million_ Havenite personnel who had lost their lives. But as massive as that number was, the casualty count had actually been in _Haven's_ favor. They had the people to lose; the Alliance didn't. More than two hundred Alliance ships had been lost that day, including one Admiral Alistair McKeon's flagship.

Honor bit her lip at the memory, wishing she had been there to prevent it, to save him and his people. But she'd been sitting on the Junction terminus, waiting for her full strength to jump through, and when it had, she'd micro-jumped through the system and had blown the fleet which had sprung the trap on McKeon and Admiral Kuzak that had been meant for her, to very, very small pieces.

She'd used the new Apollo systems to force Admiral Lester Tourville to surrender by letting him know she could destroy his fleet far out of any range at which he could return fire. And now there was the better part of three hundred thousand Havenites sitting in prison camps on Gryphon.

Nimitz radiated his disapproval for his person torturing herself this way over things she couldn't control, and reached down from her shoulder with a true-hand to pat her cheek. She reached up and scratched the treecat behind his ears, projecting an embarrased apology through their link. The door alarm chose this moment to chime.

She pressed her com's accept button, and James MacGuinness stood there, with her com officer next to him."My Lady, we have orders from Manticore. There are reports of raids being conducted in the Yeltsin system, and the Graysons are requesting a little extra assistance just in case. We have orders to take a battle group with us to go reassure them." Honor nodded. "Have the helmsman plot a course into hyper. I'll be on the bridge in five minutes." she said, and Mac nodded.

She closed the link and rubbed her eyes with her hands, then stood up, and walked out the door with Nimitz riding on her shoulder.

When she arrived on the bridge, she looked towards the helmsman. He nodded without having to have to have been ordered to do anything and layed in the course.

_Invictus_ and her battlegroup accelerated steadily toward the hyper limit, and something life-changing for all was waiting on the other side, though they did not know it...

(A/N:Cliffie! Bow before the almighty CLIFFIE! Please R&R!)


	2. Of Silence and Schemes

A/N: Sorry for the long update... And what's foreshadowing?

Edit: Remastered.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Honor sat in the flag bridge of the _Invictus_, patiently watching the readouts as the ship's navigator prepared them for the hyper translation. She watched with careful eyes, silently commending the efficiency of the navigator. She watched as the hyperlog dialed down, the numbers settling into place as the hyper generator spun up and the impeller wedge became a Warshawski sail, and then - the ship translated, but in place of the usual blue-white energy bleed-off of translation, the bleed-off crossed the entire spectrum, from lightest blues, to reds, whites, and greens, everything. And then the ship dropped out of hyperspace, alarming the crew, the engineering department, and especially one Honor Harrington.

She pressed the com stud on her command chair. "Engineering." She said, and waited for the commander in charge of the ship's systems to get on the line. It didn't take more than five minutes, and by then the look face of the woman who answered was very, very worried indeed.

"Engineering, Cartwright. Sorry to keep you waiting, Admiral." The apologetic commander stated.

Honor waved off the apology, in such a way as to indicate it wasn't an issue. "Never mind that, I'm sure you were busy with whatever it was that just brought us crashing out of hyper." Honor said, one slender eyebrow raised in question.

The commander on the other end of the link nodded her ascent, moving a bit in the pickup's view to show Honor the scenes of chaos unfolding behind her as the Engineering crew went haywire trying to figure out what had just happened to their ship and its hyper systems.

"It's a bit early to know for sure, Ma'am, but the diagnostics we've been able to run as of yet indicate a severe power spike in the relay running to the generator. As in, a _six-hundred percent_ power spike. We're very, _very_ lucky the spike didn't do any damage to the generator or impellers – that we know of. We did, however, break the _Iota _wall on our way up. Which is the reason for our current confusion and situation… we should all be subatomic particles floating around in hyperspace right now." The Engineer explained.

Honor's eyes widened full round before she could control her expression. "The _Kappa_ wall?" she asked incredulously, and the engineer only nodded. Honor sat back in her chair, confused and a little bit shocked. _Well, alright, more than a little bit._ The Iota wall was the ship-killing Kraken of the hyperspace deep, the wall which no ship had yet survived to use and report back from. _Until now._

"How high did we go, Commander?" Honor asked.

"We're still not sure yet, but the hyper generator diagnostics show spikes concurrent breaking the walls associated with at least _three_ theorized post-Iota bands…" Cartwright said, trailing off. "Honestly ma'am, until we complete a full diagnostic, we won't know for sure how high we went." The commander finished, shrugging apologetically.

Honor nodded. "Tell me when you have more information for me." She ordered, and the commander nodded back to her.

"Will do, Ma'am. Engineering, out." Cartwright replied, cutting the feed and getting back to work.

_Now this _is_ strange, _Honor thought to herself, tapping a long finger on her lower lip while she thought, questions without answers rolling about in her mind. After a minute, she shook herself out of her musings, and turned to her flag helm officer. "Helm, what is our current position?" Honor inquired.

"Ma'am, sensors are down, we need time to fix them." he replied. "Engineering reports it'll be an hour before they can get them running again." He said. "Until we have them up, we won't be able to start charting the stars to know where we are."

Honor blinked in surprise, then shrugged minutely. She pressed the stud on her chair's arm again. "Flag to bridge." She stated, and a moment later Rafael Cardones' face popped up on her screen.

"Good morning, Admiral. I take it you've already spoken to my engineering officer?" he asked, and Honor nodded. He smiled, a bit relieved. "Well, I guess that saves us some time. What did you need of me?"

"I need you to send out a recon flight, Rafe. You know this already, but our sensors are down and we need to see where in the universe we are."

"One step ahead of you there, ma'am. I just ordered two of the pinnaces launched."

Honor nodded, acknowledging him with a smile. "Well done, Rafe." She said, and he returned her smile. "That being taken care of, I'll let you get back to business."

"Thank you, ma'am." He said, and she killed the link. Sitting back in her chair, she steepled her fingers before her face, an intense look of contemplation written across her features.

_Maybe we can ascertain our position if there's something familiar out there...if there is anything._

_**Somewhere in Britain, one month later - **_

The older American boy viewed the moonlit landscape though the scope of his weapon, silently watching, shrouded in darkness. Left only with his thoughts as he made his way slowly towards his objective, he could have made a cat's silent step seem noisy. Spread out behind him, equally invisibly, his team did not utter a sound.

That's how they heard the snapping of the small twig over the normal night-time noises of the forested mountains.

The whole team froze, turning to face every direction, weapons trained. Someone was following them stealthily... but not stealthily enough. Out of the corner of his eye, the boy caught a movement, and snapped around with the quickness and agility of a cat, pulling the trigger on their unknown – and unlucky – assailant.

The Death Eater never saw the curse that killed him.

One of the boy's team members dashed silently to the falling man, grunting slightly as she lowered him to the ground, and made her way back to the group, where they exchanged hand signals before spreading out and getting back on their way again.

Never once did the boy think about looking back.

They had a mission, and Alpha never failed.

_**Somewhere in Ireland -**_

Harry rubbed his eyes irritably, glancing at the clock next to his sleeping bag. It had been one month since their forced retreat from Hogwarts, and they were still running. A dozen small skirmishes had harried their numbers, and he hurt every time he thought of the friends he'd lost. _You'd think I'd be used to this by now,_ he thought. He laughed, an ugly, humorless sound.

He sat up, stretching out the kinks that one inevitably gets after sleeping on rocky ground. Harry tossed off the top half of his sleeping bag, and got out, stepping into his shoes before walking around the camp, prodding everyone awake with his foot in the half-light just before dawn.

"Come on, we've got to get a move on, or the Death Eaters will catch up with us again." he said to no one and everyone at the same time. That got them up, as none wanted another clash while they were still licking their wounds from the last fight. He walked over to the field hospital, pushing aside the flap of the tent, and into the smell of antiseptic, healing potions, and blood. He'd discovered that blood had a metallic smell, like wet, rusted iron.

_That's what we've become,_ he thought._ Too strong to break completely, and too weak to hold._ _We're rusty. _His thoughts were interrupted when Madam Pomfrey walked up to him, giving him an update on the students' and teachers' conditions. "Miss Weasley should be up and about any day now, Mr. Potter, and Professor McGonagall is awake now. I'm still having trouble with Mr. Finnigan and Miss Patil, as they can't seem to shake the dizziness from the Stunners they took in the last encounter we had with the death eaters. Most unusual." she said, and paused a moment, gathering her breath. "I'm running out of potions, Mr. Potter, and if I can't get ahold of a new supply, I fear that we may not survive much longer." she said, eyes lowered, causing Harry to wonder about how he'd been raised to the position of impromptu leader.

_It's not like I have anything special going for me,_ he thought. _I mean, Hermione would be better at this than I am! She's the administrator type, not me._ But there was nothing he could do about it. If it was what the others needed, so be it. But as soon as he could, he knew he'd be passing the mantle to someone else. Until then, however...

"Then I guess we'll have to go into a town, or raid a Death Eater house. I honestly don't like either option..." Harry stated, and noted to himself to have Hermione come up with a plan of attack, or find the right people to infiltrate a town. Madam Pomfrey simply nodded, casting an _Evanesco_ charm on her thin dragon-hide gloves to clean them of blood and spilled potion.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter." she said, then walked off briskly to help a Ravenclaw girl with a deep gash in her arm that wouldn't stop bleeding.

Harry walked out of the tent, surveying the students and teachers as they readied themselves for the day, shouldering packs, rolling up sleeping bags, and folding up tents. They looked weary, eyes shadowed with defeat, and having seen too much. They needed a victory badly, or else they'd fall apart. He walked back over to his own sleeping mat, having declined a tent when most of his troops - how funny that was, he'd been catching himself calling them that in his mind, lately - were without one. He began rolling the bag up, and shrank it before stuffing it into his pack. He stepped out of his tent, casting one last look inside to be sure that it was clear of his belongings, before waving his wand once, the tent lifting out of the ground, stakes and all, to fold itself into a tight little square before stuffing itself in his bag.

The wounded were levitated out on stretchers by students with their wands held out in front of them, and Madam Pomfrey charmed the field hospital to stow itself and its' contents into a large trunk in front of her, and pulled off the nun-like bonnet on top of her head, stowing that in as well, before pulling out a camouflaged cap with a red cross on a white circle sewn into the front of it, and shutting the lid on the trunk, which she shrank to suitcase size. She sat the cap snugly on her head, before walking off to join the rest of her impromptu medical staff, all changed into camouflage-colored robes.

Harry surveyed the scene, watching with something akin to pride at these torn, weary people, as they prepared to move from these woods and into the wide world. They each took out and inspected their wands, checking them, before nodding and placing Disillusionment charms on themselves, to further enhance the visual camouflage their robes provided them, and they became a small, battered but not beaten, invisible army.

He almost started when Hermione walked up to him. "Harry, you should cast your charm, we're ready to go." she said, hair ponytailed behind her cap's sizing strap. He nodded to her, before casting his charm, and joined the rest of his army in invisibility. "Let's move out, people." he ordered, and a chorus of "Yes, let's" and "Okay" rang out, and they moved as silently as they could out onto a marshy plain.

"Hermione, Madam Pomfrey says she's running out of supplies. We need to raid a Death Eater's house, or to infiltrate a town and steal some from an apothecary." Harry said to her, and Hermione nodded, though he could not see it. "She told me yesterday, and I've been poring over a map of the magical towns around here, and only one is close enough for my liking. One small problem," she said, biting her lip. "It's Ross. The sneaky Death Eater bastard has a whole company's worth of Death Eaters there. The scouts say he's got the place armed to the teeth, and the whole town was on Voldemort's side from the beginning, anyhow."

"We can't take them." Harry said flatly. Hermione nodded again, rustling the bottom of her ponytail against her robes. "Just great..." he started, but Hermione interrupted.

"But we can still infiltrate, Harry. The Death Eaters stationed there are new recruits, very green and nervous. We could sneak past them if we were careful, and have a few people infiltrate and steal as much of their supplies as they can." she said.

Harry thought a moment. "Sounds alright to me." he said, before grinning." So when did you become a strategist?" he said, and she blushed.

"Playing Risk with my cousin before I knew I was a witch." she said. "The reason I don't play wizard chess more often is because I can't find a good enough opponent." She shrugged, and Harry chuckled.

"Well then, I believe the first thing we're going to do when we have the time is play a game of chess." he said.

"Of course, Harry." Hermione laughed.

A/N: So, what do you think? Please review, they feed my creativity!


	3. Before the Raid

A/N: Thank you silversong for the review! That was nice. Now, I do have the possibility of getting Honor slightly wrong - let's face it, only Weber gets her right - but I will do my absolute best!

Disclaimer: I'm not Rowling or Weber, I don't own this. I'm not making any money - although I wish I were.

Chapter Three: Before the Raid

_**Hogwarts Castle -**_

The American team picked through the ruins of the castle, wary for any sort of traps as they searched the rubble for survivors and supplies. But no traps were to be had. The defenders had been in far too much of a hurry to flee to lay anything, and the Death Eaters in far too much of a hurry to pursue. Nevertheless, they were careful, not wanting to fall prey to anything that would seriously hinder their ability to investigate this final bastion of the British resistance for Alliance command.

The boy rested against the top of what used to be a tower, watching through his scope and with his eyes for any movement in the woods and mountains as his team ended their search, finding no survivors, and nothing useful as a clue. They spread out a bit, and set camp for the night, using fallen masonry as handy cover.

Satisfied that nothing was within eyesight of the castle - that could do much damage to them, anyway - the boy quietly rappelled down the wall, before landing and jerking the cord so that the grappling hook disengaged and fell into his hand, and stowed it in his pack. He shoulder-slung his weapon, and walked over to his team, who had lit a small fire to cook with.

"Find anything?" he asked them in general.

"Nothing useful to us, sir. Except these older brooms, but there's enough for all of us." the team's scout replied, holding them up, then rubbing his elbow and wincing. "And these big damn rocks are here, too. You want my advice? Don't slip." he said ruefully, and the team chuckled. The scout pulled out a vial of healing potion, splashing a finger's worth of potion onto his gashed elbow, hissing as it made contact, and he wrapped it in a bandage afterwards.

"It's a bit odd though, shouldn't we have found _something_ here?" the team's heavy weapons specialist, Lisabelle, or Lizzie, asked, scratching some mud off the massive weapon in front of her. She looked very grateful for both the Feather-weight charm and the _Evanesco _cleaning charm as she did so, for the weapon was a bit more than half as tall as she was and twenty centimeters around at its thinnest.

"My guess is that the Death Eaters picked the place clean before blasting it to smithereens. Makes sense, don't it?" the boy who led them replied. "They pick everything else clean, so why not the castle?" he finished, a bit nastily. Little did he know the castle was in such a state because it itself had fought back against those who brought it down.

His team nodded, seeing a point and truth in his words. In the last month, Voldemort had ripped through England so furiously after the fall of Hogwarts that nothing had stood in his way. Even now, France was being invaded by a legion of his newest followers, and Germany was stocking up, getting ready for the storm – but everyone on both sides of the line knew how the Continentals had been depending on the British to manage their own magical affairs, so that they wouldn't need to. America knew it wouldn't be long after that that they'd be the target, as there were a plentitude of witches and wizards who could fight against Voldemort, on and behind the shores of the United States - or join his cause. And so the special teams had been formed, armed with the new weapons and machines that the wizard-scientists at the Salem School and the Oklahoma School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had thought up. They promised a world of hurt for Voldemort - assuming they got into the right hands. If Voldemort captured them... well, it didn't bear thinking about too closely, because the odds were that he would.

The leader surveyed them a moment, before helping himself to a mug of MRE stew.

He declined the crackers.

_**Near Jupiter, - **_

Honor watched her screens as _Invictus'_ sensors, having been repaired long since (though they had taken a bit longer than expected), showed her the locations of the scout pinnaces as they searched, while the remainder of the ship's sensors were dedicated to tracking the stars. She looked to another screen, and frowned at the image before her. _Why does that look so familiar, I wonder?_ She thought, looking at the gas planet on the screen. She frowned another moment, before filing the thought away for another time when she could take a good long look at it.

"Ma'am, the sensors report a habitable planet within the liquid water zone. The pinnaces are requesting permission to scout it out." Rafael Cardones, her flag captain, reported. Honor nodded. "But our EM scanners are also picking up one heck of a lot of chatter going back and forth across the planet – it's obviously inhabited."

"By all means, order them to scout it. Maybe the locals will be able to tell us where we are," she said, one corner of her lips turning up in a slight grin, and Rafael nodded, turning to his flight officer, who relayed the affirmative.

Honor leaned back in her command chair, puzzling over where they could be. _It's so familiar... it's there, on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember it..._

_**Outside the town of Skerries, Ireland -**_

Harry watched the town through the omnioculars that were hanging on a strap about his neck, viewing the Death Eaters as they made their patrol rounds, and saw one man peel off, heading towards a large building in the center of town. _Must be where the town's contingent commander stays. During the day, at least._

He filed that knowledge away for later use, and continued to watch their patrols, relaying times and numbers to Hermione, who jotted them down in a notebook. They were trying to build up a pattern, and so far having good luck. _They really _ARE_ green troops,_ Harry thought. _They shouldn't follow the same patrol route every time. That's how Dean and Padma got killed._

They watched for a few more hours, before getting up and stretching, silently going back to their camp. Hermione went straight to the command tent/field hospital, and began drawing up a plan of attack that used force, careful positioning, and relied on plenty of luck and surprise. They had decided to forgo infiltration due to how many Death Eaters had actually happened to be in the town. There were fewer than reported, the number just low enough that the Hogwartians could take them… and they were out for blood tonight.

Meanwhile, Harry got his people readied for battle.

"If we win this fight, we'll have the supplies to keep them on their toes, maybe take the fight to THEM for once. I for one am tired of just running, and fighting, and seeing friends killed – and I know you all are. Why should we fight in this town? Why should we not? If not this town, it'll be another. If not this town, it might be our camp in the middle of the night, where they have the drop and advantage on it. Quiet, Colin! These Death Eaters here are inexperienced, and we can take them. But they are still a company's worth, and if we can beat them with our little group, by Merlin, these _people - _"he said, spitting out the word as if it were the vilest of curses, "will treat us seriously again! We've got to show them that Hogwarts students are just as capable as they are, that we can _hurt_ them. And I know we can! This is our home, and we _will get it back!_" Harry shouted, and the group sat stunned a moment, then someone cheered. "I'd like _that_!" And that seemed to galvanize them. They cheered too, a rousing, rising roar that promised their victory, as if it was already assured. Inside, they mightn't have much hope the plan would succeed, but it was something to hold on to. And if it did succeed...

Hermione walked out of the tent, holding up Ron with a cast on his leg. "Bloody hell mate, what'd you do? Start a riot? They sound like they're ready to take on the world out there." He asked, grinning.

"If that's what it takes. We need to win, Ron. Or some of us will lose it altogether." Harry replied, waving a hand over some still depressed looking people on the edge of the group. "I'd rather we not have to fight the Death Eaters yet at all, but it's the only way we're going to be able to save the group as a whole, because without those medical supplies we're done. Finished. We'd have to escape across the Pond and settle up in America, and I don't think most of us could handle leaving everything we know behind, especially when it'll feel like we're being kicked out."

Ron shrugged. "Maybe, mate, maybe. I think you should give 'em a little more credit, though. They're a lot hardier than y'think." He said, and Harry shrugged, not going to say anything one way or the other.

Hermione cleared her throat, grabbing Harry's attention, and held out a piece of parchment. "Here's the plan, Harry. It's pretty simple, but I think it'll work."

Harry looked it over. The plan called for them to divide the people into five groups, one on brooms, the rest on the ground. The broom riders would attack from above, cursing and Impeding everything they could in a single pass, two maximum, and for the other four to attack from each road into town, blasting away at the barricades across the road to let the raid team (lead by the twins) inside to wreak havoc and steal the needed supplies. The four groups' job would then turn to providing covering fire for the escaping commandos, and then swiftly escape to a castle the scouts had reported yesterday, to the north.

Harry nodded. "Good work. I'll go address the troops..." he said, smirking as Ron chuckled.

"They're the troops now, are they?" he asked, shaking his head.

"They're my troops now." Harry replied nonchalantly.

Harry and Hermione walked over to the people and explained their plan, and most looked blank until Ron summed it up: "We get in there, we kick Death Eater ass, we steal supplies - while kicking more ass - and get out. Then, we run." he said, over the howls of laughter from the people. They then all nodded and proceeded to ready themselves, fastening cloaks, casting Disillusionment charms, and finding their way to their assigned groups, and the broom riders disillusioned their brooms before lifting off.

Harry watched them proudly (the few he could still see), before casting his charm and kicking off, joining the front rank of broom riders. He waited a moment as everyone jostled into position, before looking at Hermione and the other three group commanders, and casting green sparks from his wand. That was the "go" signal.

The columns moved out, and the battle was moments away.

(A/N: What do you think? Please review! I know Honor is taking a backseat right now, but she'll be a major part later, her and Invictus.)


	4. The Raid: Part One

A/N: Thanks for the PM, Hamm. And for picking up on the Chap 2 screwup. Hold it...

Disclaimer: Yes, Dave, it's me again. I'm not making money, this is your universe - and Rowling's - and I could never compare to you two. Should either of you like my idea and run with it, feel free - I'm just limbering up for my Last Apocalypse series of books, which I may publish at some point. If you wish, I could have Honor go back to Manticore, and inject the Apocalypse series in her place. Agreeable? Or, just edit the whole story. Either works. If you've got a Fanfiction account, send me a PM, or shoot me an email. My email's in my profile. Always fun to chat with an honest-to-god military scifi author. Same to the management - if you'd like me to change it to avoid lawsuits, please, just shoot me a message. I'll comply without hesitation :)

There, that should take care of that in short order. Now, this chapter, there is no Honor Harrington, I'm afraid, but battles are fun, nonetheless, and Alpha Team meets up with the Hogwartians mid-melee. Wahoo!

\o/

The American boy, zipping along at speed on the salvaged broom, raced across the forested and marshy countryside, blinking against the wind. _Why they didn't bother to give us flying goggles, I'll never know._

He chuckled to himself, the sound lost in the wind, and watched the ground. Something odd was going on, he could feel it in the air... or maybe it was the way those carrion birds were circling that town to the west. He carefully watched them, pulling the broom to a stop as his team stopped near him, scratching his chin. He pulled out his omnioculars, zooming in as far as he could go, and grunted.

"Death Eater garrison in that town over there." he said to his team.

Lizzie pulled her omnis out, looked, and nodded."Sure is. What're we gonna do?"

The boy shrugged. He continued watching like an eagle, and a movement caught his attention. He swung the omnis around, getting a fix on it. A broom was zooming through the air towards the town - riderless!

"Heads up, I think we've got broomriders, Disillusioned." he said, pointing out the broom.

Zach, the scout, chuckled."Something just shouts 'GREEN!", doesn't it?"

Everyone held a snigger.

"I think they might be..." Lizzie started, and a huge fireball suddenly loomed in the town, and suddenly there were a dozen broomriders in the air, casting curses at the Death Eaters, who were milling in confusion.

"Friendlies." she finished.

"Be real nice to have some support. Hey, there's Potter! And don't they look like a bunch of hillbillies in their camo robes!" Zach laughed. Everyone let out their chuckles, before turning to the task at hand.

"Hey, Cap'n, do you think we should help them?" Sarah, the communications geek, questioned.

"Do we have weapons?" came the rhetorical reply.

"Yes sir!" came the chorus.

"Then let's have at those bastards."

\o/

Harry swung around for the second pass as the first of the ground elements opened up on the defenders with cries of "Avada Kedavra!" and "Reducto!". Masonry and woodwork crashed into splinters or burst into flame, toppling onto the surprised defenders before they could muster a defense. Harry spotted a Muggle truck and aimed an Incendio spell at it, causing it to ignite and explode, taking four Death Eaters with it. Ginny, flying wingman, had somehow acquired two wands and was using them like dual cannons, blasting and killing in smooth strokes as she held onto her broom with her legs only. Ron flew on his other side, and was using the powerful Rending Charm that Hermione had found for him, reducing brick buildings to rubble with a single shot, and turning anything metal or wood into twisted debris.

The second ground element stormed through the barricades, whirling through like a cyclone of destruction, though not without taking losses of their own. Harry saw Alicia Spinnet fall to the ground twitching, face covered in blood from where a fragment of metal tore through the air, cutting her face from chin to temple, and Neville took a cutting curse to the chest, causing a massive gash to appear. Madam Pomfry's assistants rushed forward, releasing a torrent of spells before grabbing the wounded and falling back to the field hospital.

Harry saw the Death Eater who cast the cutting curse and hosed him with Reducto curses.

There was nothing left.

\o/

The boy clenched his broom with his legs, hefting his weapon to his shoulder and taking aim before releasing a torrent of curses at a group of Death Eaters, one of whom sent back a sizzling answer, attested to by the smell of the boy's burnt hair. _Okay, they're not all green,_ he though.

He swung his aim, squeezing off individual bursts at individual Death Eaters, sometimes killing, sometimes maiming. All depended on the cycle of his weapon.

Lizzie stopped dead in midair, weapon hefted over her shoulder, and took aim at a large building before sending a massive Reducto curse straight at it. The force of the recoil from such a large spell actually knocked her back in midair.

The building blew apart.

Zach swept through the battle-torn main concourse, letting rip with a magical grenade launcher, it sending bottles of blasting potion through windows and doors before exploding within, often taking the structure with it. He was about to fire another shell when a kid poked her head above a windowsill, eyes wide with fear, and he dropped his aim. "Damnit! Hey, CAP'N! THERE'S LITTLE KIDS HERE! CHECK TARGETS!" he shouted into his earbug, switching to his sidearm pistol, sending aimed curses at his enemies. "Have'ta do a whole hell of a lot of praying tonight...hope I didn't kill any kids..."

Sarah stayed back, relaying locations to the others, and keeping the Death Eaters heads down with precision shots from a sniper rifle. She swerved, dodging a Killing Curse, and dived to avoid a piece of levitated masonry before striking down the caster with a curse."And they say my casting's bad... sheesh!"

\o/

Harry heard the excited shouts of his soldiers, and Ron pointed at a group of four fliers who were blasting through the Death Eaters like a scythe through grain, wielding strange weaponry that fired curses. _Very odd... but I'm glad they're on my side! I think._

He swerved around seeing a girl with a small device pressed to her ear, shouting at someone, dodge a killing curse and some floating masonry before dispatching the caster, and managed to hear her words through the din of the battle. "And they say my casting's bad - sheesh!" she said, and he caught the American accent - not a Southern one, but more of a Bostonian accent, he thought. He wasn't sure. But it confirmed who they were and where they were from.

He saw a flier streak in at low level and open up with another odd weapon, this one firing shell-like projectiles which penetrated buildings, exploded, often levelling them, and then stop, swearing and saying something that caused the other members of the group to switch to weapons with more precision than his and him to change to a pistol-like weapon himself. Harry thought he heard "there's little kids here!" of the whole thing, and he blanched.

"Ron, Ginny, Luna! Come here!" Harry bellowed. The three zoomed up to him.

"Quick, go to the element commanders and tell them to use non-lethal curses only! We've got kids here! Little ones!" he shouted to him, and the other three looked wide-eyed a moment before racing off at breakneck speed while he went to Hermione's group. He circled overhead a moment, not spotting her. He landed next to the command squad and walked up to Lee Jordan."Lee, where's Hermione?" he asked.

Lee looked at him a moment. "Hermione got hit in the first five minutes. Cutting curse."

Harry's mind went blank."Is she alright?" he said numbly.

Lee shrugged."Pomfry's medics pulled up and layed one hell of a suppressive fire before hauling her off. She was still alive then." he said, looking slightly guilty at not having more information.

Harry thought quietly, then suppressed a surge of pain and nodded."Find out what you can. I'll go check after we're finished here." he said. "Also, there seems to be kids in this town. Little ones. Tell your teams to check their targets, and switch to non-lethal spells."

Lee looked stunned, then nodded, and turned back to a messenger and shouted orders. The messenger nodded and hurriedly rushed to convey the message. Harry turned around and alighted on his broom once more, and kicked off.

\o/

Lizzie got Zach's message and cursed before switching to Stunner spells. She'd still put people in comas with this big honking cannon, she was sure. That thought made her grin, then quickly sobered at the thought it might be kids like her. She was very careful with her target-picking now.

The boy, known as Echo, brought his weapon to bear on a group of Death Eaters hiding behind a wall. He switched his weapon to Reductor-only cycle for a moment, and blasted the wall to shreds before whipping to killing curse-only, and laying them all low, and then switching to Stunner spells. He zoomed on his way, orbiting the battle and slamming the Death Eaters with concentrated streams of Stunners, keeping their heads low so Sarah could remove them.

Sarah hadn't switched to non-lethal - her sniper rifle's scope let her see exactly what she was shooting. She saw what her Captain was doing, and copied him, flying opposite him so that when he shot something from one direction, she shot it from the other. They were effective this way, wiping out small pockets of Death Eaters with precision.

Zach flew at maximum speed down the streets of the town, dropping weaponized Stink Pellets into the Death Eaters when they tried to group together. The Pellets now worked more or less like tear gas grenades, causing severe eye watering and skin irritation on contact.

\o/

Hermione woke up in a haze of pain, and tried to sit up, then lay back with an abrupt scream as her chest felt like it was being set on fire, and she saw shapes looming over her, hearing words, soothing words, attempting to calm her while a set of hands worked at her, trying to stop the pain or at least fix the problem. All she could remember was charging at the front of the lines with her people (well, second rank - not far back, but far enough she could give orders to everyone at once), and sending volleys of spells at the surprised Death Eaters, and then Neville, in front of her, was cut down with a cutting curse and... a flash. A tearing sensation in her chest. Pain. Blackness.

And now she was here.

Wherever here was. She was certain it was Madam Pomfry's tent... but you never knew.

A foul-tasting fluid was poured down her throat just as a something was applied to her chest that made her scream bloody murder, before passing out.

\o/

Echo zipped by at eye level, using the wind his broom made as he flew by at the Firebolt's maximum speed of 110 miles an hour - or, something like 185 kph here. He gripped his broom between his legs, and pulled his pistols out of his leg holsters, turning to the side and sending double streams of curses at a group of Death Eaters besieging a pair of assault teams with heavy fire. They wheeled around just as he whipped by, and some managed to get off insanely close shots at him before going down.

One curse struck three of the twigs in the broom's tail, setting them alight, and he quickly bat at them before they could spread to any of the other tail twigs and take him down. This pause allowed an exceptionally fast Death Eater to get off a cutting curse at him, cutting a gash in the hood of his flying cloak. Echo spun and dispatched the caster and sped away quickly, dodging more curses as he tried to get some altitude, to see what's going on.

/o\

Lizzie dodged a curse, sending a scorching reply back upon a hapless caster, the force of the combined spell enough to blast him off of his feet and fling him headfirst into a wall. She smiled a merciless smile as she took target of another Death Eater, and did him the same favor. She almost missed the spell hurtling toward her, swerving in the last instant before it would have taken her out, and growled, sending a barrage of fire at the Death Eater, flinging her away from her companions.

The next spell did hit her.

For a moment, she felt weightless. Then, gravity returned and her stomach crashed into her spine as she screamed, falling off her broom. She turned over, pulling out her wand and trying to slow herself, and desperately sought to save herself.

A Hogwartian noticed her, and thinking her one of their own, quickly whipped out his wand."Arresto Momentum!" he shouted, slowing her down just enough to avoid death.

That still didn't keeping her from breaking her right arm and left leg, and cracking six ribs, before passing out on the ground as her cannon crashed to the ground next to her, the resilient metal not even reacting to the fall.

\o/

Zach slowly orbited overhead, far above rooftop level, reloading his grenade launcher with weaponized Stink Pellet canisters . They worked like a cluster bomb, except with tear gas like effects. He took aim and tested it, causing a large group of embattled Death Eaters to fall over, coughing and clawing at their eyes, screaming as they were hit by fire from the Hogwartian ground echelons. He grinned, and chuckled. "Hey, I'm not killing anyone. Just making 'em lose their aim and save friendlies. Works for me."

He sped up in his orbit, as the curses were getting a little close for his comfort, and opened up on other targets.

/o\

Sarah desended on a rooftop a decent distance away from the fighting, and sat down, dismounting her broom and wincing as the gash on her leg throbbed. She cast a quick sealing charm to stop the bloodflow from the cut vein, and another to close up her leg. It wasn't permanent, but hopefully the Hogwartians had a good Healer or two on hand.

She tested her leg, and, although sore, it was just fine now, and she unslung her sniper rifle, and laid down on the sloped roof, so that only her head poked above the roof of the house. She took aim, and started taking out Death Eaters that popped their heads above their hidey-holes, and laughed quietly. "Like fish in a barrel. So easy..." she said, before noticing a broom-mounted figure get hit by a Stunner, and heard Lizzie scream over the WWN headset, and watched her fall towards the ground, weapon discarded and spinning behind her as she frantically tried to slow herself, and she suddenly did slow, although even from here, Sarah could tell that that HAD to hurt. The weapon landed harmlessly beside Lizzie, and a pair of Hogwartians with red crosses on white circles sown into their hats laid down covering fire as they approached her, and levitated her and her weapon away, and in the distance, Sarah could make out a large tent. _There's the hospital!_ she thought, relieved. At least, she _thought_ it was the hospital. She shrugged._ Could be anything... I just _hope_ it's the hospital._

\o/

Harry sped through the air, hurling curses left, right and center, making careful note of his target in a fraction of a second before casting, and saw Katie Bell dive in front of a killing curse meant for a wounded boy next to her. Katie had instinctively thrown up a shield to protect herself, but the charm was just to weak to stop much of the force. Katie slammed against the wall behind her as it struck the shield, then her, and lay motionless. He shut his eyes and grit his teeth, and descended among the Death Eaters like the Angel of Death, wand scything through them as he killed them.

Ron and Ginny kept position on either side of him, casting protective charms to keep him safe. Ginny screamed and fell off her broom as a very close group of Stunners hit her and tossed her unconscious to the ground ten feet below. At her speed, the force of the crash shattered her ribs. Ron shouted after her and peeled off, trying to get to her, only to get hit as he landed beside her. He shrugged it off, and cast Rending Curses at the Death Eaters, who shrieked as they were twisted in two by the dark spell.

Harry shouted and swerved back, landing next to Ron, and they set up a solid wall of outgoing spells sure to keep any Death Eater's head down. All they had to do now was wait for the Medics, and Harry desperately wanted to help Ginny, hold her, as she bled on the ground, her blood as red as her hair.

/o\

Echo saw Potter and his companions sweeping through the Death Eaters, and watched, impressed. They looked like Juggernaut, unstoppable and merciless... until the girl was hit. Echo watched as she fell from the sky, and even from here, he was sure she'd at least broken a couple of ribs, if not the whole cage. Potter's other wingman - her brother, it was obvious simply from the hair color - peeled off and landed, being hit with a spell and shrugging it off.

Then he cast a spell Echo had never seen before, a spell that twisted structure and human in two alike, causing massive damage to his surroundings. Potter quickly turned around and landed next to him, sending out a flurry of hexes and curses to hurt the Death Eaters and keep their heads down. The girl was slowly bleeding out on the ground, and Echo thought she was merely unconscious, because she was still breathing.

Then he saw another broomrider swoop in and land next to them, this one wearing a cap with a red cross on a white circle sewn into the front. She bent down and picked the red-headed girl up, levitating her gently into an underslung stretcher on her broom, then kicked off and sped away at the best speed she could without jostling the girl too much._ Wish they trained_ our _medics that well,_ he thought.

\o/

Sarah was doing an excellent job of keeping the Death Eaters confused, keeping them from knowing which direction to fire in. _They're idiots! My favorite kind of bad guy._, she thought.

She happily kept on firing and relaying positions, and Zach kept taking out her targets with impunity using those pellet canisters. _He likes those _entirely _too much. _What she didn't see was the Death Eater squad sneaking up behind her, and she only heard it when one snapped a twig.

Sarah rolled just in time to avoid a flurry of killing curses, and pulled her pistols from her leg holsters, rolling and firing, trying to get to the roof's opposite slope to provide herself some cover. A Death Eater shrieked as a Reductor curse slammed into her, pulverising her face and upper torso, and the man next to her fell and lay spread-eagle on the ground, dead.

Sarah ducked behind the chimney, and clicked her headset."Cap'n! Need help over here!"

/o\

Lizzie woke up in pain, dulled by something, and her thoughts felt... hazy. Like half-formed, not quite there, and yet unignorable.

This frustrated her no end.

She slowly opened her eyes, reactions syrupy slow, and turned her head to either side, looking around. To her right, a bushy-headed brown haired girl was lying on a cot with a bandage wrapped around her chest, and to her left was a tall, geeky looking boy sporting a similar bandage, his looking a bit... older. Like it had been there longer. She tilted her head forward, and saw that her leg was done up in a cast, as was her arm. _Knew I broke _something , she thought. She tried to move, and grunted in pain. _Gonna be feeling this in the mornin'... heck, I feel it right now!_

She turned her head to the flap of the tent just as an unconscious girl who was bleeding profusely was brought in on a stretcher. Her hair was as red as her blood, and Lizzie thought she might be Irish. Her ribs looked to be shattered, given the way one stuck through her chest like a bloody white spike. Lizzie watched as the Head Healer - or that's what Lizzie thought she was - came in and started to operate, applying various potions to speed the healing while she tried to poke the ribs back together, usually using magic for assistance with particularly stubborn pieces. She tipped a bottle of Skele-Gro down the girl's throat and massaged her throat to make it go down. She then carefully removed her bloodstained shirt, and wrapped her chest in a cast.

Then they moved to the next patient, leaving the girl there to rest.

Lizzie'd never seen a medical team work so fast. "Damn, they're _good._" she said, before falling asleep again.

\o/

Lee Jordan kept his wand held in front of him as he and his forward team searched through the house, cautious and ready for any sign of danger. He spotted a small wire crossing the doorway, and bent forward, severing it with a severing charm. _It's funny, how such a useful little charm could be used to be deadly,_ he thought, thinking of the whole front rank of the group that had charged into town. _Not one of my more brilliant ideas._ Then he thought of Neville and Hermione, in particular, and wondered how they were doing in the hospital.

If they were still alive.

Who knew if any of them would be at the end of the day?

He pushed these thoughts aside when he came upon a locked door, and heard whimpering on the other side. He gestured to his squad, and they took up positions beside the door, and Lee softly said, "Alohomora!", the door unlocking. He turned the knob, and ducked back, expecting someone to shoot at the opening door. But no fire came.

He looked around the side of the door, and saw a little boy and his sisters huddling in a corner, stuck together for protection. _That'd only make them an easier target, but they don't know that. And pray... they never have to._

Lee stepped forward, to a frightened yelp from one of the girls, and laid his wand down at his feet, and kicked it to them. "I'm a good guy... a kid like you." he said, stepping forward and getting on his knees. They watched him fearfully, before one of the girls reached out and picked up the wand. She looked at him with big round eyes, before turning to the others."I think he's alright..." she said, with an already heavy Irish brogue.

The other two came forward, and Lee motioned for his squad to enter. Angelina Johnson knelt down next to him and picked up the little boy, no more than three or four, and hugged him close when he started to cry a little." 's okay, kid, we're here to help you guys... and get those mean Death Eaters." Lee picked up a girl as well, dusting her off, and they led them out carefully, the other two members of the squad fully alert for any sort of movement, and they took every back road and hid in every cranny until they arrived back at the command tent.

Molly Weasley was speaking with Madam Pomfry, her camoflaged robes disheveled and blackened, when they arrived. She turned around, and gasped at the sight of the dirt-crusted children."My word! They can't be older than..." she started, then looked them over, and chose the oldest girl."I'd say she's no more than ten!" With that, she took the little boy and the younger girl up into her arms, and asked their names."I'm Jay. Ever'one call me Jaybird." the little boy said. The little girl spoke up."I'm Susan..." she said, burying her face in Molly's shoulder. Molly turned to their older sister."Jenna." she said, somewhat bluntly. "Well, hello, Jaybird, Susan, and Jenna. I'm Molly. When was the last time you ate?" Molly asked, eyeing them disapproving of their skinniness. All three shrugged."Heavens! We've got to get you fed!" she said, and motioned for Jenna to follow her as she carried the other two, and bustled off to find some food.

Lee watched a moment, before a scream from the town reminded him what he was supposed to be doing. "Let's get back to work, guys. And girls." he added, after recieving a look from Angelina and the other girl on their team. They each picked up a broom and kicked off, flying at maximum speed to the town.

/o\

A/N: And that's the chapter! The battle is not done, but I felt like getting this posted today :)

Please Review, they keep me sane and make me post more often. Plus, they keep my story good, since I then use your input to improve it.


	5. The Raid: Part Two

A/N: Thank you Hamm for the review, and all those who've added me to their favorite author and stories lists! Most appreciated, tho I'd appreciate reviews more!

This is another Honorless chapter, I'm afraid, but the next one will have half the chapter devoted to her. I promise.

/o\

Echo heard Sarah's call for help over his earbug. "Keep under cover, I'm on my way." he replied, yanking the handle of his broom up and he looped, twisting away from curses that were growing fewer by the second.

He zipped low over the tree-and-rooftops, weapon banging against his back as the wind caught it. Echo caught a glimpse of a squad of Hogwartians doing battle with the better part of a platoon's worth of Death Eaters out of the corner of his eye, and banked sharply, coming to ground next to them. He unslung his rifle and pulled a grenade off of his combat harness, and chucked the blasting-potion filled sphere into the middle of the Death Eaters, the explosion sending six of them flying.

Echo raised his rifle to his shoulder and kneeled behind a piece of fallen masonry, popping out to pick off individual Death Eaters as the Hogwartians continued their fire. He heard one of them fall to the ground with a scream, twitching as a curse caused him to spasm and bleed. Echo pulled another grenade off his harness and tossed it, and grinned grimly half a second later as the grenade exploded and took three Death Eaters with it. He risked a peek around the top of his cover, and saw that the Death Eaters, who had numbered around thirty, were reduced to fifteen in various states of injury. He also saw that the four Hogwartians had been reduced to three, and one of them was nursing a broken leg while intermittently firing off spells into the Death Eaters.

He decided on a change of tactics.

He rolled out from behind his cover, dodging a curse, and charged the group of Death Eaters, weapon furiously cycling between reductor charms and killing curses. He knew this was a Rambo-esque move, and that real soldiers didn't do it, but he knew that because they didn't, it would make for a great deal of surprise and confusion. Hopefully. Three Death Eaters immediately fell to his onslaught, and he rolled as the rest gathered their wits and began casting curses at him as well. He sat with his back against the side of a building, and pulled out another grenade.

He sighted a cluster of about seven close together.

He sighted his throw, and pulled his arm back, then threw it as fast and hard as he could.

He used to play baseball.

The cluster of people suddenly vanished, replaced by a rapidly expanding fireball, and when the smoke cleared, there were various body parts strewn about, blood splattered across the wall behind where the cluster had been. There had been a time when such destruction would have made him sick, but nowadays, even though he had only started fighting a month ago, it hardly even phased him. It did not mean nothing to him - the day it did was the day he quit. But he did not linger on killing, for the other side was trying to do the same to him.

He poked his head around the corner and looked. There were five Death Eaters left. There were still three Hogwartians.

He decided he'd helped enough, and that the Hogwartians could finish up, and went to his broom, remembering Sarah with a grimace. He hoped she was alright still. As he passed them, a grime-covered Hogwartian nodded to him, and Echo couldn't tell whether it was a boy or a girl. He nodded back and picked up his broom, slinging his weapon again, and kicked off, piling on speed and heading in Sarah's direction.

He arrived to see her still there, hiding behind the remnants of the chimney, face blood-spattered where a piece of flying masonry had nicked her shoulder. She waved wearily at him as he landed, and he saw no trace of the Death Eaters she had mentioned.

"What took ya so long, boss? I finished 'em off myself!" she said, blinking.

"I helped out a few of our allies beat the crap out of some Death Eaters." he replied, bending over to help her up.

She nodded in thanks and picked up her discarded sniper rifle, and her broom. "Well, next time, get here sooner. That last moron was about to kill me when he got hit by his own debris. Stunned him for long enough for me to finish him."

"Good thing he did, then?" Echo asked. Sarah cocked an eyebrow at him."

Ya think? Now, think you can help me? My arm's giving me hell, and I don't want to fall off the broom on my way to the hospital tent." she said.

Echo grinned."That would be classified as a 'Very Bad Thing', I think. Okay." he said, and they kicked off, Echo holding onto one of Sarah's arms and the broom handle, guiding them both to the tent, and Echo tapped his earbug.

"Zach, do you see that command tent on the edge of the town?" he asked. A moment passed before Zach replied.

"Yeah, I see it. Head there?" he asked.

Echo nodded, though he could not see it."Yes." Echo replied.

"Roger wilco, Cap'n."

/o\

The battle was winding down. Someone, somewhere had decided to change plans. What was supposed to be a mere raid became a full-fledged assault, and the Hogwartians were winning. Easily a hundred and fifteen dead Death Eaters lay in the streets, and seventy six Hogwartians lay in the hospital tent. Six Hogwarts students and Professor Flitwick were dead, and it wasn't even over yet.

Flitwick had been with the six students, charging with the fourth column in the beginning of the battle, and had taken them inside a house, where, unbeknownst to them, fifteen Death Eaters lay in wait. Two of the students had died instantly, before anyone could react. Professor Flitwick charmed a couch to fly in front of himself and the two other students long enough for them to find cover before it was blown apart.

Every Death Eater in the house had attacked then.

The small group of Hogwartians had given twice what they got, but in the end, it wasn't enough. Flitwick succumbed to a Killing Curse, and when his protective charms died, the other Hogwartians died under a hail of curses.

\o/

Harry walked along a road, carrying a stretcher between himself and Ron. Unlike most of the stretchers carried out of the town on this day, this wasn't loaded with a wounded student or teacher. On this stretcher were some of the near-priceless potions Madam Pomfry needed, as well as plenty of food for the battered army. Six more stretchers and their bearers lay close behind them, and twenty Hogwartians guarded them as they walked towards the semidistant field hospital.

"Y'know, why can't the broom-medics just zip this stuff between here and the hospital?" a fifth-year Ravenclaw complained.

"Because they're too busy saving my friends, your friends, and their friends, you prat! Now shut it!" Ron shouted. As if to confirm this, a medic zipped past overhead, stretcher underneath, a screaming student carried inside. A small drip of blood landed on the whining student's nose, and he nearly dropped his end of the stretcher as he yelped.

In the distance, flashes of light lit up the ever-sparser firefights in the town, the occasional lightshow starting up as two or three firefights merged into a melee. The sun continued to set, shadows continued to lengthen, and night began to set in over this town. The battle had lasted nearly all day, and showed signs of continuing into the night. Thrice more, medics zipped past, going to and from the battle. Once, two medics streaked by, and returned bearing a trio of stretchers between their brooms.

Then, three unfamiliar broomriders swooped low overhead. The small convoy's guards drew their wands, and dropped to their knees, aiming at the riders. But then Harry saw the weapons at their sides, and the fact that one of the riders was helping another stay aloft."Stand down! They're friendly - they helped us out!" he shouted.

/o\

Echo spotted the convoy, as they flew slowly over the town and surrounding forest. Next to him, Sarah drooped over her broom, holding tight to it but half-passed-out. Zach watched around them as they flew, making sure that no Death Eaters lay in wait. Echo turned to Zach, and twitched his head to the ground, pointing with one finger. Zach's eyes followed his finger, and nodded. Echo turned his and Sarah's brooms to the convoy, and Zach followed him.

As they neared, Echo saw the convoy's guards draw their wands and drop to their knees. As the convoy hit the dirt, he heard someone in it shout "Stand down! They're friendly - they helped out!". Echo found the voice's speaker, and saw Harry Potter standing up and pointing at them.

Echo reminded himself to thank him later.

As they set down in the middle of the convoy, Sarah woke up slightly, and let go of her broomstick, and fell to the ground with a soft _thump_. Echo bent over to pick her up, and carried her over his shoulder so as not to hurt her arm or leg. Zach picked up their brooms, and Echo turned to Harry.

"Harry Potter?"

\o/

Harry saw them set down, and the rider in the middle - a girl, obviously - let go of her broom, and dropped to the ground, and the rider that had been helping her picked her up and held her over his shoulder. The third rider picked up their brooms and walked with them. The boy carrying the girl walked up to him. "Harry Potter?" he asked. Harry nodded.

"Yes?" he replied.

"I'm Captain Echo Traviss, United States Magical Armed Forces. We were sent to find you and any other remnants of the magical community in Britain not loyal to Voldemort - or dead." the boy, Echo, said.

Harry's eyebrows shot up."You're telling me that the Ministry's not even around any more?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not. Voldemort dissolved the institution when he declared himself ruler."

Harry blinked."So.. we're the only ones left?" he questioned.

"As far as I know, yes. But then again, we're only one team. There are five that I know of - they could have found more people." Echo answered.

Harry sighed, before nodding. He then looked at the strange weapons they carried."What are those, anyway?" he asked, pointing.

"Those are wand-guns. They mix muggle weaponry with a wand, allowing us to 'cast' more spells quicker. It also prevents us from easily breaking our wands, so they're more durable. One of our teammates, Lizzy, she carries a massive cannon-type wandgun, that uses sixteen wands in unison to fire off overpowered spells capable of knocking a building to pieces. Zach, over there, " Echo said, pointing at Zach, " carries a grenade launcher that fires either small canisters of weaponized Stinkbombs or spheres of blasting potion. They come much bigger - last time I was in America, they were working on an artillery piece that does the same." he finished, and handed his rifle to Harry.

Harry lifted the unfamiliar weapon to his shoulder, and aimed into the air, pulling the trigger. A small flurry of spells flew into the air, and Harry watched them dissipate before handing it back to Echo."Impressive. Have any more?"

They continued to chat as the convoy made its way to the field hospital-turned campsite, as Hogwartians set up their tents for the night, and Harry stepped in with his stretcher of medicines, followed by Echo and his injured teammate."Madam Pomfry?" he said. Pomfry bustled in.

" Yes mister P- my goodness!" she said, gaping at the small pile of medicines.

"We got you your medicine." Harry told her.

He pointed to Echo."His teammate needs help, can you...?" he asked.

"Certainly!" she replied, smiling."Who might she be?" she inquired.

Echo piped up."This is Lieutenant Sarah Wilders, our team's spotter, sniper, and comms geek." he said.

Sarah was awake enough to hear this. "And I'm the one watching your back with high powered weaponry. Remember that." she grumbled. Ron ducked out of the tent, and they could hear him laughing somewhat crazily outside.

"I will certainly help the Lieutenant. Just lay her on that cot. Yes, the one on your right. Now, what's wrong with her?" Madam Pomfry asked.

"She's got a gash wound in her leg that she sealed up pretty well, and her arm's broken. That's all I can see." Echo replied.

"Well then, we'll finish up with the couple of critical injuries we have left and then we'll get right on it, yes?" she said.

"Thank you." Echo replied, setting Sarah down on the cot, before walking outside, and pulling his pack off his shoulders.

He charmed his tent to set itself up, before nodding to Zach and going inside. He lay in his sleeping bag for half the night, thinking about... everything. Just thinking. And then sleep claimed him.

/o\

A/N: There ya go!! Next chapter has Honor in it! Review please!

Update: I had to fix some mistakes, so, hope you like it this way better.


	6. The Haven and Discoveries

A/N: New chapter! It has Honor in it, to answer your question.

**_Jupiter Orbit, same time as the events in Ireland-_**

Honor stood in the observation deck, hands clasped behind her back, looking at the massive gas giant before her.

They'd figured out where they were, and why this planet was so familiar. It was Jupiter, in the Sol system.

The door behind her opened with a soft _whoosh._ Mercedes Brigham, her chief-of-staff, walked in."Ma'am?"

Honor turned to face her."Yes, Mercedes?" she replied.

"Sensors aren't reading any large-scaled emissions from Earth. It's quieter than Grayson was before the Alliance, actually."

Honor blinked."How is that possible?" she asked.

"We don't know, ma'am. There aren't even any drive signatures - inside the hyper-limit or out."

Honor frowned."None at all?"

"None, ma'am." Mercedes replied.

Honor shook her head."But this is Earth, for God's sakes! There should be drive signatures, massive orbital yards, and all the trademarks of a city-planet. This makes no sense.." she said, turning to a viewscreen and turning the video telescope feeding the screen in Earth's direction, zooming in until she could see it clearly. Her jaw dropped - she could actually see green grass!

"Something's wrong here." she murmured.

Mercedes nodded."And we're trying to figure out what as much as you are."

Honor turned back around, facing Mercedes."Have you tried to communicate with Earth?" she asked.

"Yes, on every spectrum - minus old radio, and we're getting around to that." Mercedes replied.

"Get on it." Honor ordered.

"Yes, Ma'am." Mercedes replied, walking back out the door.

**_Swords Castle, County Dublin, Ireland - _**

Harry saw the massive, semi-ruined castle looming before the convoy of Hogwartians, like a beacon of shelter. A Hufflepuff looked up, and pointed.

"Look, there it is!" she shouted. Almost as one, the Hogwartians looked up, and in the near-daytime of an unobstructed full-moon's night, there it stood.

The whole convoy exploded in cheers. Were they not so close to a Muggle population, they would have shot spells in the air like fireworks.

Harry waved his hands in a negating gesture."Quiet, quiet! Do you want them to hear us?" he hissed.

About a quarter of them silenced completely - the rest just toned it down to a dull roar.

Harry sighed - it was pointless, at this point, to try to shut them up."Better." he murmered, walking to the head of the column, a nearly-healed Hermione falling in step on his right, Echo on his left. The three walked up to the gates of the castle, at which point Hermione walked up to the big rusted iron gate, tapped it, and said,"_Alohomora_", causing the timbers behind it holding it closed to jump away from the gate.

Harry put his hand to the gate, pushing gently on it. When it didn't even budge, Echo walked up beside him, placing his shoulder against it, and pushing. Harry tossed his own shoulder into the job, and the gate started to slowly creak inward. Echo pulled a flask of machine oil from his pack - the oil he usually used to keep his gun in working order - and used a dirty rag to wipe it on the gate's hinges. When they pushed again, it slid open without complaint or sound.

Harry pulled out his wand, holding it up in the air."_Lumos._" he said, and the tip of his wand started to glow, casting a yellow light on the area. He slowly walked in, all the surviving members of the Order of the Pheonix, all the older students from Hogwarts, the teachers, and Alpha Team walked followed close behind, their wands held out before them, unwilling to hope or believe that the Death Eaters hadn't infested this place as well, like all the other towns they had passed by.

But, only half an hour later, they found out that their fears were unwonted. In the keep of the castle, behind mighty barricades, were about fifty Irish wizards and witches, and students like themselves. They were rather ragged looking - but obviously well-fed. As things turned out, before the Death Eaters had come to Ireland, they had gathered as many supplies as they could - potions, potions ingredients, brooms, spare wands, wand-parts - as it turned out, one of their number was a revered Irish wandmaker, whom not even the Irishmen could say the name of properly. The woman, used to this, took no notice of the rampant slaughter of her name. She just went by "Shelly".

Harry introduced himself."I'm Harry Potter, and these are survivors from the Dark Lord's attack on Hogwarts." he announced.

A sandy-red-haired man in front stepped forward."Ah'm William McCullough, of Swords. What's your business here, Harry Potter?"

"I've led these people here from Hogwarts, to escape the Dark Lord. We didn't know anyone was in this castle already. I'd like permission for my people and I to stay here, if that's alright." Harry answered.

"That's fine, but they may not be any food to be had for your people." William stated.

"We've got our own food and medicine, actually. We raided Skerries a week back."

The man's eyebrows shot up."But there was at least a whole company of the Death Eaters there!"

Harry shrugged."And?"

"But no one could take that many with a force as small as yours!"

Harry blinked, then chuckled."I almost forgot. Hey, Echo!" Harry shouted.

Echo jogged forward."Yes?"

Harry gestured to Echo."Mr. McCullough, this, is Captain Echo Traviss of the United States Magical Armed Forces, and he and his team used their weaponry to help us take on the Death Eaters in Skerries." Harry said. "They used their "wandguns" to pretty much annihilate any Death Eater that stood in their way. About three quarters of the Hogwartians owe their lives to Echo's squad."

With that, Zach, Sarah, and Lizzie stepped forward, Sarah still sporting a limp and Lizzie clutching lightly at her side.

William bowed to them."Harry, Echo, anyone who resists the Death Eaters is a friend of ours. You're welcome to stay." he said, and Harry and Echo nodded, even as a loud cheer went up from the Hogwartians.

A few of the Irish witches and wizards came forward, and offered to show the Hogwartians their rooms, and, group by group, the Hogwartians got their rooms.

**_Jupiter Orbit - _**

Honor stood behind the comms section, as the comms officers listened for radio transmissions from Earth - of which, there were plenty.

Random radio chatter emanated from the section, and some of it was quite... interesting.

"From the chatter, I'd guesstimate that this planet - if it isn't Earth, is equivalent to 21st century Earth in development. But seeing as the continents are all in the same position, and that the inhabitants speak English..." Mercedes trailed off, and Honor nodded.

"Somehow... it appears we've gone back in time."

**_A/N:_**

Half the chapter was Honor, and I left a bit of a cliffy at the end. I should have a new chappie out soon!


	7. Gifts and Decisions

A\N: I only own characters you don't see in the series, i.e., Echo and his team, any of the Irishmen, any Americans I name that I bring over later... et cetera, et cetera....

Oh, and in this chapter, the Hogwartians get some reinforcements.. and a few surprises to put up their sleeves. :)

**WARNING: TECHNICAL DESCRITIONS IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU ARE EASILY BORED BY THE DESCRITION OF WEAPONS, ARMOR, AND HEAVY VEHICLES, JUST SKIM.**

**_Approaching Mars Orbit, on the bridge of the HMS Invictus -_**

Honor kept an eye on the distance gauge, waiting for the moment they hit Mars orbit. When they did, she intended to order the comms section to make an indepth scan of the transmissions from Earth, and for a recon drone to be launched into Earth's geostationary orbit. The reason for getting so close was this - she wasn't using impeller drive, and she didn't want the Recon done to burn its' reaction thrusters out on the way there.

The distance gauge hit zero.

"Helm, all stop." Honor ordered.

The ship's forward thrusters blew back explosively, jolting the crew forward, and ramming the multimegaton superdreadnought to a stop as if it had run into a wall.

The helmsman looked up apologetically."Sorry, didn't mean to stop her that hard."

Honor nodded."Just don't do it next time."

The helmsman saluted."Yes Ma'am!"

Honor turned to the comms section."Get FlightOps on the line, and tell them to launch the RD, and begin an indepth scan of Earth's transmissions. Use the videoscope to get us an idea of what it looks like on the planet's surface until the drone gets there."

The comms officer nodded sharply, and turned to her comms section and began barking out orders, before picking up an intraship phone and talking to whomever was on the other end.

Honor sat back in her command chair. crossing her legs, and stared at the image of Earth, thinking.

**_Castle Swords, County Dublin, Ireland -_**

Harry was speaking to Echo, on the top of the gatehouse, when Hermione came running up to him, panting."Harry! Portkeys - arriving - castle courtyard!" she stammered breathlessly. Harry turned to the courtyard inside the castle walls, where indeed, the blue glows of portkeys were pulsating. Harry turned to Echo, who was grinning slyly.

"Do you have anything to do with this?" Harry demanded of Echo.

"Yes I did." he pronounced proudly.

The portkeys suddenly appeared, and then there were many soldiers and their equipment in the courtyard, looking around. From what little Harry knew of military unit sizes, he'd have to guess there was a full company of soldiers there. As he looked, he spotted some scientist-types in white lab coats scrambling around, asking soldiers to help them carry crates of equipment. As he watched, a soldier and her squad set up something that looked like a miniature radio station aerial.

"How?" Harry asked.

Echo shrugged."I sent an owl back to HQ yesterday. Didn't think I'd get this sort of reply, or so fast." he said.

A boy with a commander's rank bars ran up to Echo, giving him a salute."Cap'n Echo, sir! I'm Commander Bill Holliday, of the US First Magical Army Company. We're yours to command. And, I was told, to give you..._these._" Commander Holliday said, handing Echo a packet of mail."They're orders from HQ, situation reports, and you and your team's mail."

Echo nodded, and waved a hand to Harry."This is Harry Potter, and he's in command of the Hogwarts survivors. Any orders he gives, are as if they are from me, clear?" Echo said, raising an eyebrow.

Commander Holliday nodded quickly."Yes, sir!"

"See to the company, Commander." Echo said.

Holliday saluted and jogged off again.

Echo turned back to Harry."You approve?"

Harry, now that Holliday was no longer in their presence, was rolling on the ground, howling with laughter.

Echo looked confused."Harry? What's so funny?"

Harry tried to talk, red-faced."He, heheh, was so stiff, you could almost see the stick! 'Yes sir, no sir, three bags full, sir!'"

Echo tried to look offended, but then Hermione got it, and thought about it, before trying not to giggle and laugh - and failing miserably, winding up rolling on the ground as well.

Echo frowned."Hey, no making fun of my men and women, got it?" he demanded.

Harry waved him off."Relax, it's a joke." he said, before cocking an ear."What's that humming sound?" he asked.

Hermione stood up, and Echo scanned the skies."Over there." he said, pointing to the south west.

Harry looked in that direction.

There, about forty miles away and closing fast, were three massive sword-shaped objects, with a dozen smaller dagger-shaped objects swarming around them in a defensive pattern.

"Those, Harry, are three Vertigo transports, and their Dagger fighter escorts. They use brooms for propulsion." Echo said.

Harry looked confused."But they're made of metal, and those transports are too large.." he pointed out.

"Harry, the fighters are nothing more than weapon-carrying shells to protect the broom-riders inside. Remember, the metal can be bewitched to weigh less than they do - but not to fly, unfortunately. That spell just bounces off metal. Same with the transports. Note how the transports look like swords? In the "hilt" and the "crossguard", there are, between them, about thirty brooms that are built into the transports, and bewitched to fly on command. There are also about five on the underside, to let it have vertical takeoff and landing capability. They can lift as much as thirty tons of equipment, or a battalion of troops and their equipment." Echo explained long-windedly.

The heavy, ungainly-looking things accelerated, coming behind the castle, before their noses jerked up and slowly started to sink to the ground. Unlike with a muggle helicopter, there was relatively little kicked up dust underneath them. A ramp lowered from the front of each, and men and women in mechanic's and loader's and loadmaster's uniforms started to guide large bundles of crates down the ramp, gentling them to the ground. Out of one transport came several broomfighters, all with their landing gears down, and they were hauled away, pulled through the gatehouse door and into the castle.

A notable piece of equipment came down the ramp: a short-barreled, wheeled artillery piece, pulled by three men.

Harry turned toward Echo again."Was this the artillery piece that you talked about earlier? The one that was based off of Zach's grenade-thing?" Harry asked. Echo shook his head."No, actually, the "grenade-thing" was based off this artillery. But yeah, this is it."

Harry let out a low whistle.

Echo grinned at him, and pulled on his elbow."Come on, let's go see what the geeks are up to - that looks like body armor!"

Harry stopped, and looked down slightly at Echo."And you're supposed to be the captain of this battalion?"

Echo shrugged."Might be the captain, but I can still act like a fourteen year old when I want to. Now come _on_...."

Harry let himself be taken down to the men, woman, boys, and girls in labcoats, who were indeed battling a Kevlar vest style piece of body armor out of its' box, it apparently not wanting to cooperate until one of the women noticed that there was still an elastic band holding the thing in, and severing it with a Severing Charm. The vest popped out, knocking the people wrestling with it to the ground.

Echo walked up to them."So, is this what it looks like?" he asked the scientists, pointing to the armor they all clutched between them.

The woman who had cut the band nodded."It's Mark I anti-magic armor, yeah. And you are...?" she asked, trailing off.

Echo held out his hand for her to shake."Captain Traviss. I'm your new commander. This is Harry Potter, and... well, he tells me what to do." he said with a grin.

The woman's eyes widened a little."Captain Traviss? _And _the Boy who Lived? Well, this is an honor!" she said, getting up and shaking their hands vigorously."I'm Doctor Karen Yate, from R&D. We were ordered here to perform field trials on the new equipment."

Echo nodded."I've heard of you. Weren't you the one who invented the MagiFlex armor plating?" he asked.

Dr. Yate shrugged."Me and my team. That's what the vest there, and the helmet that goes with it, are made of. There's enough to equip the battalion and the Hogwartians." she said.

Harry piped up."Us too? Really?" he asked.

Echo nodded again."I asked for that much, gave them your numbers. I hoped they would..."

Harry begins to thank him, before hearing a thump and a groan as Ron slips on a plastic bag and tumbles down the stairs, coming to rest face-first in the dirt. "Thanks, Echo." he said, walking over to Ron and pulling him up by the arm.

Harry walked up to the top of the tower, and leaned over the parapet."All Americans and Hogwartians - make your way to Dr. Yate and her team, to be fitted for your armor!" he shouted.

**_Mars Orbit, HMS Invictus -_**

"Ma'am, you might want to have a look at what just popped up in England, or what we think is England." the comm officer said, her finger pointing at a viewscreen that showed what the videoscopes were looking at. Honor strode over to the comm section, peering over the shoulder of a com tech.

The viewscreen before her showed a sword-shaped vessel, gliding smoothly over a mountain, and coming to rest just outside of the ruins of a castle. Ramps slid down from underneath it, and specks she thought were people ran down the ramp, pulling seemingly slightly larger crates down the ramp with them.

"What is that?" she questioned.

"We don't know, ma'am - it's in none of our databases." the officer replied.

Honor continued to stare at the view, before seeming to make up her mind."That settles it." she said, straightening up.

"Settles what, ma'am?"

"I'm going down there. Get on the horn to FlightOps and have them ready a pinnace, a squad of armored Marines, and please ask Mercedes to meet me there."Honor ordered.

The officer snapped off a salute and a "Yes, Ma'am", before carrying out her orders.

Honor looked to her flag captain, Rafael Cardones."Captain Cardones, you have the bridge." she said, and Rafael nodded, sitting in the command chair. Honor took one last look around the bridge, then walked out of the bridge, making her way to a turbolift.

**_A/N:_**

So, how do you like it? Please review - there will be battle in the next few chapters, and Honor meets Harry in the next one!


	8. The Meeting

A\N: Hi all! I know I've not updated recently - it was the holidays, and all. I've not even had writer's block - it's more like writer's overload! I'm not exactly sure how I wanted to get where I was going, in other words. But, I figured that all journies start with a single step, so... here you go!

**_Lunar Orbit -_**

Honor adjusted her grip on the pinnace's controls, as the jewel-like blue planet grew in her viewscreen. In her view were the familiar landmasses and oceans of Earth - circa two millennia ago. Somehow, she figured, they'd gone back in time - which might explain the odd-colored hyper aurora. But why?

Honor shrugged these questions off as she concentrated on flying the pinnace, not really needing to, but wanting to distract her overactive and wandering mind.

As the Earth steadily approached, she flipped on the active stealth system, and pointed the nose of the pinnace toward the castle the videoscope had pointed out for them, and those strangely shaped craft.

**_Castle Swords, Ireland, County Dublin -_**

Harry wandered the castle, deep in thought, listening subconsciously to the reports of the weapons outside, as his Hogwartians trained with the Irish witches and wizards and the American battalion with their new weapons. He climbed to the top of the main tower, and looked down, watching the streams of multicolored light smashing, burning, breaking, and rending the paper and tin targets, even as men and women and students marched an endless path around the perimeter of the castle, in full packs and gear.

He swore he'd be able to make a moat out of the rut they were making, soon.

Harry looked up at the night sky, clearer than daytime, watching the stars wink and fidget and shine. They fascinated him - how many there were, how many more there were he couldn't see. Occasionally they'd go out of vision, covered by something dark, but he dismissed it as a high-flying bird, since it never lasted long enough for him to really notice it.

A small explosion drew his attention, and his gaze turned downward and to the east, where the artillery cannon was being practiced on by Ginny and two Americans in armor, the explosion marking the death of a small stand of trees and the birth of a new crater in the ground, even as Ginny performed a charm, giving her the elevation and range on a distant boulder, before turning and elevating the cannon's muzzle and tapping the end of it, firing the large potion-filled shell out the other end.

The shell arced through the air, coming to earth with a solid _thump_ before exploding a split second later, turning the boulder to rubble.

Harry let out a low whistle, something that Ginny apparently caught as she turned around and searched the parapet for him, before waving and getting back to business.

Echo and Hermione walked up to him."There you are Harry!" said Echo.

"We've been looking for you!" Hermione said.

"The geeks that we saw earlier, getting out that radio aerial-" Echo started.

"Have it set up, and now we've got a direct line to the American Department of Magical Affairs!" Hermione finished, then grinned at Echo.

Harry smiled at the two of them, and looked around the grounds, not seeing them."Where are they?" he asked. Echo pointed down the stairs they had just come from.

"Down in the chapel, Harry." Hermione said, pointing that way too. Harry nodded, and started down the stairs, Echo and Hermione following close behind. The three of them walked down the stairs together, talking excitedly amongst themselves, wondering what the news from America would be. More reinforcements? A counterattack by their American allies? They did not know.

A few minutes later, they walked into the chapel, then up the stairs, to the belfry. There, a boy from Hogwarts and one of the American scientist were bent over a large radio, speaking through Muggle-style headsets to whomever was on the other side. Echo walked up to the boy and tapped him lightly on the shoulder, then tapping the scientist on hers.

"We need these headsets now, you two." Echo said. The boy stood up quickly.

"Going!" was the boy's only response as he scampered away. The woman was more dignified, gathering her things then handing Echo her headset and leaving. Echo gestured to Harry and then to the other headset.

Harry picked it up, and set it on his head, watching Echo do it to make certain he had it on right. Hermione picked up another and placed the jack in its' receptacle on the radio.

"Hello?" Echo said, and there was static for a moment.

"Captain Traviss?" a clipped, curt female voice on the other end replied.

"Yes." Echo confirmed.

"Hold on one moment, I'll patch you, Potter, and Granger through to General Adams." the woman on the other end said, before the radio went back to static for a moment. Echo whistled.

"General Adams is in command of the Special Forces division - my group, in other words. He's also Lisabelle's granddad. Big guy, really, really BIG guy, built like a bear." Echo explained.

Harry nodded, fidgeting with the headset.

The static stopped, and a gruff male voice answered."Echo, you there?"

"Yes sir." Echo confirmed.

"And those two British kids that were apparently leading the Hogwartians?"

"Yes, sir." Harry and Hermione said almost as one.

The general chuckled."You don't have to 'Sir' me, you're not even in the service."

"We're just being respectful, sir."Harry said, Hermione nodding with the statement.

Adams sighed slightly, and Harry got the distinct impression of a shaking head."Well, fine. Anyhow. We hear you've managed to successfully raid an enemy held town, hmm? That's a mighty fine accomplishment, right there. Not many of our or anyone else's commanders have been able to say the same. I believe there is one man who took a city, however, that being the only reason I didn't say your victory was our greatest of the war. Which, Mister Potter, is why we'd like you to become our EUROCOM, or European Commander. Basically, you will work with other nations' armed forces to drive Voldemort straight back to hell. You will have total control of all US and British forces, naturally... and Captain Traviss here is to be your operations officer."

Adams cleared his throat."And Miss Granger?" he asked.

Hermione leaned in, though the boom mike and headset made that irrelevant."Yes, sir?"

"You're to be his chief of staff, working with Captain, or, should I now say, _Major _Traviss, to plan his attacks. Earlier, Major Traviss's second in command filled me in about your role in the assault on the town, and I have to say, I'm impressed. The attack, while straightforward, was something most enemies wouldn't expect - old style, marching in lines, all that normally suicidal stuff. You'll also be working with Dr. Yate to come up with new equipment for our soldiers. I have been told you had no equal at Hogwarts School, and that, little lady, takes some doing. As such, would you both like to join the United States Magical Army?"

**_Approaching Earth, Invictus Pinnace -_**

Honor felt the turbulence kick up as she gently slided into the atmosphere at a mere thousand kilometers an hour, the nose of the pinnace glowing faintly. Right below her, that she could see with the aid of her artificial eye, she saw The Castle. She didn't know what it was actually called yet, so she had decided to just call it that. Mercedes Brigham watched, slightly amused, and Honor felt Nimitz's dreams as he slept in the seat behind her.

He had gotten noticably bored three hours into the flight.

Honor reached behind her and stroked his coat."Wake up, Stinker. We're nearly landing."

Nimitz woke up and stretched sinuously, buzzing with a contented purr as he sprang up onto the head of her chair, and signed to her.

Honor rolled her eyes."Yes, I'm sure they'll have celery - if they don't kill us first. We _did _apparently go back in time." she said.

Nimitz flirted his tail and shrugged dismissively, settling to a rest on the back of her chair.

Mercedes looked back at the viewscreen."Time to put her down, Your Grace." she said, pointing at the altimeter on the HUD.

Honor nodded, and the craft made its' final approach under her careful hand.

**_Castle Swords -_**

Harry and Hermione both blinked.

Harry finally answered."I'd be honored, sir, but do you really think you should be passing this command off to someone so-"

"Young? Charismatic? Intelligent? Hell yes, son. I admit you might not have much experience, but if it'll make you feel better, I'll send an old geezer warhorse like myself to look after you."

Harry swallowed."Then, I guess I'd be glad to join, General."

"Good to hear, son." Adams replied. "And you, Miss Granger?"

"Yes sir!" Hermione said, nearly bouncing in her seat."I'd be delighted."

"Great. Now, since you've both had an, um, crash course in survival and guerrilla warfare, and have already seen combat, I think we can safely skip Basic. I'm recommending you both to be admitted the rank of Captain and Major General, respectively. Now, about your reinforcements, I think we-"

Just then, an aide ran into the chapel, panting slightly."Cap'n Traviss! Mister Potter! You need to come to the front grounds outside the gatehouse. There's something landing there." he said, catching his breath.

Harry, Hermione, and Echo exchanged a look, before Echo said, "Hold that thought, General Adams. We have a situation." he said, before pulling off his mike and earphones, Harry and Hermione doing likewise, and they all raced to the gatehouse, blowing past a startled gate guard, and exiting the gate at the same time as a large, oddly shaped craft settled onto its' landing struts. Harry pulled his wand from his pocket, and, recognizing the shape of a bay hatch in the rear, walked toward it, Hermione and Echo following.

A string of telltale LEDs flashed near the hatch, and the door cycled open.

Standing in the hatch was a woman.

A tall, slender, exotically beautiful woman, who had that air of command about her. Someone used to holding the reins, but not afraid to go and mix it up herself.

In uniform. And judging by the number of medals and rank bars on this uniform, she was top brass.

The woman stepped out of the hatch, a feline, but alien, creature riding on her shoulder. She walked up to Harry, still gathering his wits, and extended her hand.

The woman looked at him.

"Are you in command, here?" she asked him, in a soft soprano totally unbefitting her size.

He cleared his throat.

"Yes, ma'am. Major General Harry Potter, of the United States Magical Army, at your service." he said, taking her hand.

The woman shook it."I'm Fleet Admiral Honor Alexander-Harrington of the Royal Manticoran Navy."

**_A\N: _**So, guys and gals, how'd you like it? Review! See what happens next chappy!


	9. The Chosen One meets the Salamander

A\N: Hello all! Long time, no update. I'm sorry! Had much going on over here. Well, as promised, Honor and Harry have finally met! Now, let's find out what happens... Thanks to all my reviewers!

**_Chapter Eight: The "Chosen One" Meets "the Salamander"._**

**_Castle Swords - Honor_**

This boy - Harry, she knew now- blinked."Of the whom?"

"The Royal Manticoran Navy, of the Star Nation of Manticore.... which, if I'm right, won't exist for another fourteen hundred Gregorian calendar years from now." Honor replied.

"But how - how did you get here, if it doesn't exist yet? Time traveler?" Harry asked.

Honor shook her head."Yes, and no. My flagship was on its' way to a system called Yeltsin, to a planet called Grayson. We were about to enter something called hyperspace, when our hyper generator malfunctioned, or, something like it. Instead we wound up in the Solar System... apparently two thousand years in the past." she said.

Harry shook his head, even as the girl next to him shook her head, trying to think around it."But wouldn't you need to go many times the speed of light to travel back in time?" she asked.

Honor nodded."Yes, you would. In hyperspace, a starship's apparent velocity can exceed three thousand times the speed of light."

The girl's eyes grew wide."Wow... but doesn't Einstein say that nothing can go faster than the speed of light?" she asked, again.

"Well, you're not actually traveling faster than light, it only appears you are. Hyperspace has many "bands", each higher band reducing the apparent distance between two points in space." Honor explained, watching the girl now.

The girl nodded slowly."I suppose that's possible..."

Honor smiled a little."And what is your name...?"

The girl looked her right in the eyes."Hermione Granger - well, now, I guess, as of five minutes ago, Captain Hermione Granger. I'm Harry's ops officer." she said.

Honor blinked."And that's another question I have for you - I know that there is no prolong treatment in this day and age, so you two are what - seventeen? How is it that you could possibly hold such high positions in any sort of military?"

Harry shrugged."You might ask General Adams about that - he's the one that assigned us the ranks in the United States Magical Army. Although, the organization name will probably change now they're bringing other nations into it." he said, Hermione nodding with him.

Honor's eyebrows raised."_Magical_ Army?"

Harry nodded."Well, yes. Non-magical peoples aren't the only ones who have wars."

Honor shook her head."But magic doesn't exist, at least, not outside of good books, and bad fairytales."

Harry shrugged, drew his wand, and aimed at a boulder nearby, and casted a rending spell, causing it to shear and tear apart."Actually, it does. Some people are born able to use it, and most people aren't."

Honor squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples, before she turned to the third member of the group."And you are...?" she asked, politely.

"Major Echo Traviss, USMA. I'm Harry's battalion commander." he replied smoothly.

Honor scrutinized his uniform."I might not know magical insignia all that well, but you've only got a captain's bars." she said questioningly.

"That's because, like Harry and Hermione, my rank only came through five minutes before you showed up." Echo replied indifferently.

Honor nodded slowly."All right... you mentioned a General Adams?" she asked."Is he a child, too?"

The three children looked at eachother, looking like they were holding back laughter with extreme difficulty, and then they all just lost it, rolling around on the ground, practically, roaring with laughter, as Honor looked on, puzzled, even as Nimitz bleeked his own laughter. She looked over her shoulder to him, seeking help with what they found so funny, but Nimitz shook his head, pointed ears flicking toward the children again.

Once they were recovered, Harry and Echo stood up, helping Hermione to her feet.

Echo cleared his throat."Ah, no, Fleet Admiral. General Adams is something going on sixty-five years old."

Honor thought a second, before chuckling softly, even as Harry raises an eyebrow. Honor cleared her throat, smiling at them."Well, you see, I'm sixty-four years old myself." she said.

All three childrens' eyes boggled. Hermione was the first to speak up."But... but you hardly look any older than I do!" she exclaimed.

"It's a technology called prolong. My generation of recipients can grow to be three hundred and more years old." Honor explained, and all three children's jaws dropped, though Harry and Echo managed to recover faster than Hermione did, who stood that way for nearly five seconds.

Harry shook himself."Well, that's certainly... interesting." he said, before shaking his head."Where are whatever semblance of manners I have hiding? Would you like to come inside our humble fortress, Fleet Admiral Harrington?" he asked politely.

Honor nodded gravely."I would. I hope that I don't cause... a stir." she said lightly, thinking of the likely reaction of the occupiers of this castle.

But Harry shook his head fervently."It will be no trouble. Frankly, it'll be an honor, no pun intended." he said, grinning widely at her. She smiled back at him.

Harry looked to Echo and Hermione, nodding, and the four of them - not including the treecat, as Nimitz still rode on Honor's shoulder - strode towards the castle gates, the shorter legged of them having to work to keep up with Harry's pace, set to make it comfortable for Honor to keep with.

Once inside the castle, they made their way through it to the Chapel, and back to the belfry, where the radio equipment was. This time around , there were no radio techs to elbow out of the way, and they could get right back to talking to General Adams, who, at this point, was getting kind of annoyed with waiting.

"What took you kids so long?" he asked irritatedly, when they called back in, saying they were back.

"Well, we found out what - rather, who - was causing a stir out front of the castle, sir." Harry said."If I may, I'd like to introduce Fleet Admiral Honor Alexander-Harrington, of the Royal Manticoran Navy - which won't exist for another fifteen hundred earth years. And she, technically won't exist for another nineteen hundred earth years."

There was a pause."What now? What's this nonsense you're spouting?" was Adams' reply.

Honor leaned pushed the pickup on the mike toward her lips."I don't quite agree that it's nonsense, General."

Another pause."Who are you?"

Honor smiled wryly."The aforementioned Fleet Admiral, General Adams. Although, if you want to go through my whole list of titles that don't exist yet because my ship jumped me back through time - and yes, you do get to see that ship at some point in the near future - I, am Fleet Admiral Honor Alexander-Harrington, Duchess Harrington, Steadholder of the Steading of Harrington, Knight Grand Cross.... and a laundry list of titles and ribbons and awards that make me look more like something you'd find on a medal factory display than someone who actually earned them all - at least in the Queen's opinion."

General Adams grunted on the other end of the link."Ma'am, if you are who you say you are, you've just given me a headache." he said warily, wearily, chuckling a little. Honor chimed in.

"Believe me, General, just being at this point in history is giving me more than a little bit of one myself." she replied.

After a moment, the two of them stopped chuckling, and then General Adams cut in."I'm sorry, I'd love to continue our conversation, but my aide is about to nag me again, and I think her jaw's finally unhinged." he said. "Nice to meet you, Ma'am. Adams, out." he said, cutting the connection.

Honor sat back in her chair even as Echo, Hermione, and Harry put down their headsets.

"Well, I don't know much about him, but he seemed impressed with you." Hermione said.

**_Paris, France - Underground Bunker -_**

Voldemort sat upon the massively upholstered seat he'd procured, safe in the bowels of his fortress, the room he sat in as dark and depressing as his black heart, even as his elbows were propped up on the armrests of the chair, his fingers steepled before him as he considered the people lining the table. These had to be the forty or fifty or so most vile, disgusting people in all of England, France, and Spain, and they were all on his Council. Yes, he gave the orders, but even he realized that without his followers, he was little more than a common criminal. And since these people controlled those followers...

"So, it's confirmed that we are ready to assault Germany?" he asked in a high, hissing voice.

One of the people seated - Elaina LeFloret - nodded."Yes, My Lord." she replied, french accent twisting her words.

Voldemort nodded slowly."And what of Mr. Quentin?" he inquired.

"All reports indicate that he and his garrison were... overrun. Slaughtered might actually be a better term, Milord." another person replied, a man.

Voldemort straightened."By whom? The Americans? We know those spineless twits aren't going to be able to do anything to us."

The man gulped."No.. not by them. People in the town say it was led by Harry Potter."

Voldemort's red, snakelike eyes narrowed."Potter... the nuisance. I thought Hogwarts had been destroyed."

Another person cleared their throat- Bellatrix."Well, yes, but some of the students and teachers... escaped."

His eyes glared murderously at Bellatrix now, who quailed ever so slightly."And who is responsible for this little slip-up?" he asked, voice hard, cold, and silky smooth.

Bellatrix looked in Lucius Malfoy's direction. In an instant, the man was dangling from the ceiling by his toes, screaming in pain as the Cruciatus curse worked its' evil magic. A sensation like hot barbed wire being pulled across the man's skin predominated his every thought, every feeling - not that he had much room in his head for either.

The other members of the Council ran for the nearest exits, not wanting to be next in their Dark Lord's crosshairs.

**_A\N: Might be a little short, maybe, but it took a while to actually write. Needed to think carefully about how I wanted the meeting to go down. As always, reviews feed my creativity and get new chapters posted faster._**


	10. Chapter 10: Good Times They don't last

Hello All! Thanks to my reviews, I'm putting this one up as fast as possible. Would love to have a beta-reader, by the way. This chapter's quickness in posting is probably partly thanks to my new muse-ic. Three Days' Grace has some good stuff. Now, onto the story... There should be a battle coming soon!

_**Chapter Ten: Good Times - They don't last.**_

**_Castle Swords, County Dublin, Ireland -_**

Two weeks had passed, and Honor found herself quite liking the people residing in the castle. They were all well-trained or experienced soldiers, but once they were off duty, the greater part of them shared an extremely dry sense of humor that she enjoyed quite a bit. Every day she had kept Mercedes up to speed on developments via the comm on the pinnace, and was considering asking her to bring herself, Rafe, and maybe Brigadier Angela Loughridge, _Invictus'_ Marine detachment commander, down to meet these people.

Over the weeks, Harry and Hermione had questioned her about the future, and the history of the Star Empire - and then of its' navy. She told them of the starship _Jason_ and a man named Edward Saganami. At which point, Echo quietly sat down with them, and listened intently to the story of the man who'd made the Royal Navy what it was. His expression had gone from indifferent, to curious, to awed at a man that wouldn' exist for centuries to come.

At the two week mark, however, things changed.

Hermione came rushing into the chamber off the mess hall that day, Harry and Honor deep in conversation while Echo wrote a letter, a box and some papers under her arm. Hermione stopped when she entered, breathing fast."Voldemort's found us!" she exclaimed. Harry and Echo looked at her, horror on their faces.

Harry stood."How?" he asked.

"He enlisted the help of that werewolf, what's-his-name... the one that changed Lupin. Well, that one. He waited until full moon then tracked our scent here, I think. But that doesn't matter. What does is that three companies of Death Eaters were spotted moving this direction, by Echo's scouts." she explained.

Echo and Harry looked at eachother, and then Honor cleared her throat."Excuse me, but, who is Voldemort?" she asked politely.

Harry turned to her."Only about the most vile, evil, twisted person on the face of the universe, Admiral." he said flatly.

He turned back to Hermione, and thought a moment."Just how long until they get here, do you think?" he asked her.

"Assuming our anti-apparition wards hold, it'll be a day or two before they're within sight of the castle." she said, before holding a hand to her ear, where a small black device like an earpiece was."The scouts are still following them, discreetly. They're reporting a dozen or so werewolves among the Death Eaters." Almost as an afterthought, she pulled the box from under her arm."Oh, and Doc Yate told me to give these to you two. They're like muggle earpieces, and they'll let us communicate long distance, but they don't require any sort of towers like muggle cellphones do. Just say who you want to connect to, and - ding! - you're connected.

Harry and Echo nodded, picking the earpieces out of the box, and fixing them into their ears. Echo tapped his and said "Lizzie", and then he was talking to her about the Death Eaters she and her scouts were seeing.

Harry tapped his to make sure it was working, and then smiled slightly."Hermione, please tell Doctor Yate I said thanks." he said.

Hermione nodded, turning, and leaving the room. Harry watched her go for a moment, before tapping his headset again. "Connect all" he said, and abruptly he could hear everyone.

"Everyone, can it!" he ordered into the earpiece. The voices abruptly cut off. Harry cleared his throat. "Looks like old Moldyshorts is headed our direction, or at least some of his Death Nibblers, at any rate. What say you all to us setting up a welcoming party they won't forget?" he asked, partly rhetorically. Enthusiastic cheers of approval flooded back at him through his earpiece, causing him to take it out until the noise died down. "I'll take that as an enthusiastic "Hell yes" then. Alright, everyone, draw gear and weapons. and ready up. We're going to use the _Phoenix_ transports to drop right in on top of the Nibblers. _Phoenix_ pilots, squad and platoon leaders as well, get to the briefing room, where," he said as Hermione came back,"Captain Granger will tell you the plan. _Comanche _pilots, report there as well. You'll be providing close-cover to the _Phoenixes_ while they drop the ground troops in. Good luck to you all." he said, tapping the earpiece. Hermione cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm going to plan this assault of yours, am I?" she asked.

Harry smiled at her."Of course. Can't expect to plan a landslide victory once and not get put up to do it again, can you?" he asked, and Honor chuckled, shaking her head.

"No, you can't, Miss Granger. Trust me - I have too much experience with that myself." she told Hermione, who put on a pouting face for a moment, before grinning at the praise under their ribbing and rushing off to the Briefing Room, a far larger chamber on the other side of the castle that was partially underground, but brightly lit by torches and lightbulbs, with Honor and Harry hot on her heels. The three stood outside the door for a good ten minutes as the squad and platoon leaders got there, and then the pilots and the CAG - Angelina Johnson. She'd taken an immense liking to the _Comanche_ ground-attack broomfighter, and her wingmates, like old times, were Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet. They and their two gunners - nine people total, three per ground-attack craft - had become a well-functioning machine, thanks to intense training. Harry wondered how that'd hold up in combat, but he suspected it would be rather well.

After everyone had arrived, Harry, Hermione, and Honor walked in, Hermione immediately going up to the whiteboard in the front of the room. She tapped her earpiece and listened a moment, before taking out a map of County Dublin, and making a mark on a spot with a pencil. She looked at the map a few moments, before standing straight, shoulders back, and clearing her throat. She had everyone's undivided attention.

"Now, as everyone here knows, the Death Eaters are approaching this position. That can't be allowed to happen, not right now. So, we're going to ambush them. I wish we could hide our aerial capabilities until later, when they might be better used as a surprise, but we don't have the time for anything else. Now, they're currently resting here," she said, passing around the map, so everyone could see where."and I'd like to hit them with their proverbial pants down. The plan's fairly straightforward - _Phoenixes _will approach and drop troops, while the _Comanches _provide cover fire, while our troops encircle the enemy and crush them. First platoon, you take the northern end, "she said, marking the spot on the map," while second takes the western," this too, she marked," and third takes southern," again, she marks it," and fourth takes the eastern. We'll box them in." she said, passing the map, finishing the briefing - and, unlike most times, this briefing truly was "brief". The leaders nodded, studied the map, drew their wands, and duplicated it to take to their men, before filing out the door to assemble their people. The pilots went to their rooms to grab their flightsuits and helmets, before heading for the hangar - carved out of the ground about sixty feet under the south wall of the castle, and well-supported and hidden.

Harry and Echo went to the armory, drawing their kit, and turned around, and were surprised to see Honor standing there.

She cleared her throat."Would you mind if I accompanied you?" she asked quietly. Harry was slightly taken aback, before nodding.

"We don't have any gear for you, but if you'll look over there, I'm sure there's at least a spare vest big enough for you to wear." he said, pointing to a rack of spare helmets and vests. Honor nodded in appreciation.

"Thank you. I'd like to observe your magic in combat, you see." she said, pulling a vest on.

"It's probably nothing special compared to some of the stuff you've seen, but it'll sure be a lightshow." Echo chimed in. Harry nodded in agreement.

Honor smiled."We'll see about that." she said, standing aside to let them walk by. The three of them were soon joined by Hermione, vested and helmeted, holding a rifle nearly as big as she was in her hands, looking more like a bolt-on attachment than the user of the weapon.

"Hermione, are you sure you can use that?" Harry asked. Hermione laughed.

"Harry, have you _seen _my firing range scores? On moving targets? I've gotten a 50 out of 50 every time." she replied to him." Trust me, I can use it." she finished.

Harry shrugged."Alright then." he said, not quite knowing what to expect now. Honor raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Hermione, before staggering slightly as Nimitz launched himself up onto her shoulder.

"Hello Stinker. I don't think you should come, Nimitz. I'm going to go watch their battle, but I've got the nastiest feeling I'll end up being shot at. I don't want you in anyone's crosshairs, either." she said softly to him as he arranged himself on her shoulder. She felt his amusement through their link, and upon her saying she was going to watch the battle, his determination to go with her, to protect his person, intensified. She sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue with him now, and felt his fresh amusement at her resignation.

The four of them - those walking, not the one riding - walked down the corridor, occasionally moving against the wall to let rushing soldiers go by, and followed them to the hangar, and they mounted up in the lead _Phoenix_ of the squadron, as they watched the platoons - sixty men and women apiece - divide themselves up into their transports, and it got a little tight in the lead_ Phoenix _as everyone squished into it, weapons ready, gear jingling. About two minutes later, they heard the broomjets spin up, the soft whoosh of air going past the vehicle as it started moving, and then the interior lights came on as the bay doors shut.

There was no chatter, even though everyone knew as well as everyone else that they were nervous, and wondering who they might not see come back at the end of it. But they were calmly confident as well- they knew that if they or anyone else they knew went down, ten Death Eaters would buy the farm in return.

The pilots were another matter. They blew off what steam they had by bantering back and forth among eachother, safe in the knowledge that at least they were stuck behind two inches of titanium, and were far less likely to die because of it.

About thirty minutes after they took off, the pilot's voice came over the intracom."Alright, boys and girls, check your gear and guns, because the _Comanches _have just started their attack, and the LZ will be hotter than hell when we land. Which, I should probably add, is in five minutes." she said, before clicking off. The red light near the doors came on, and depending on which side of the transport they were on, the soldiers turned to their left or right. Harry and Echo stood, flicking their weapons selection switch into the "on" position. Hermione loaded a conical steel round from her magazine into her gun, and flicked hers into the "on" position as well. Honor very quietly removed the tip of her right index finger, twitching the pulser built into her prosthetic arm to life. Nimitz bristled very slightly as the tenseness of people readying for combat washed over him, and his scimitar-like claws kneaded in and out of the padded shoulder of Honor's uniform.

The intracom crackled again, feeling too soon."Look alive people, we're setting down now! Go go go!" the pilot said, as the bay doors opened, letting in the sounds of a very pitched battle, the screaming of the _Comanches'_ broomjets as they were pushed to max, the yells of curses, and the sizzle of returning wandgun fire. Harry and Echo jumped out just behind the squad in their transport - already hearing the thunderous cracks of Hermione's sniper rifle as she braced herself in the doorway, the rifle's wand Banishing the conical steel slugs, sending them ripping through the air at nearly Mach 2 - and found themselves straight in the middle of Hell.

**_A\N: _**So, what do you guys think of this chapter? I'm definitely liking it! And no, I've not found any other good Honorverse fics. Weber's scared off most of them. I'm just stubborn.

As always, reviews get these things out faster!


	11. Chapter Eleven: The End of Mismatch

**_A\N:_** Hi all! I've moved this story to the Crossovers Section! Woo! Tell your friends. Wow, updates are coming hard and fast these days. Stroke of writer's... overflow? Meh. Oh well, here's the continuation of the last chapter. Watch out for Hermione!

**_Chapter Eleven: The End of Mismatch_**

**_Ireland, 50 klicks north of Castle Swords -_**

Harry's eyes beheld a maelstrom of criss-crossing spells, the heavy thuds of the _Comanches' _tribarreled cannons echoing overhead, the shouts of curses being hurled from the Death Eater ranks, the staccato electric _bzzz_ of the return wandgun fire, the silver arrowhead reductor curses crossing and occasionally intermingling with Killing Curses and Stunners. Harry glanced to his left, to see a soldier - no more than fifteen, he guessed - step off her transport, bringing her weapon up and killing a Death Eater, only to have not one, but six Reductors home in on her chest. The first four were stopped by her armor - the next two blew her chest apart, sending her toppling back into her teammates, two pulling her back into the transport, while the others slaughtered the senders of the curses.

Harry looked to his left and saw a _Comanche_ swooping in, Alicia Spinnet at the controls, as the gunners in the sidecar-like gunpods on either side of the broomfighter opened up on a cluster of Death Eaters, killing several of them, and as they flew overhead, the bottom of the gunpods opened up and unleashed a small rain of blasting potion spheres, which descended upon the survivors - or, at least they were, until the spheres hit the ground and exploded, each with the force of a hand grenade, and when the flash and smoke cleared, there was nothing left but charred remains.

As Harry looked back ahead of him, a Death Eater loomed before him, and raised his wand at Harry. Time seemed to slow down, as Harry raised his rifle and put it under the man's chin, pulling the trigger right as the man opened his mouth to say the spell. The Reductor curse... reduced his head to a fine reddish-pinkish-grayish mist.

Time sped up again with the next thunder of Hermione's rifle brought him back to the world, and he shouldered his weapon, opening up on the enemies before them.

**_Hermione-_**

Hermione saw Harry step off and look around out of the corner of her left eye - her right was watching a man who was shouting orders to his fellow Nibblers. She took a deep breath, then exhaled it, and right between heartbeats, squeezed the trigger. Her rifle bucked hard against her shoulder - she knew that if she didn't have padding on it, she'd bruise, and most likely dislocate something from the force.

The bullet smashed through the air with a thunder unbefitting its' small size, and crashed into the man's chest, throwing him back through eight feet of his friends, passing through his heart as he did so, and killing the next three men behind him.

Hermione felt a small stir of satisfaction warring with the bile in her stomach, and quenched both immediately, moving, looking for her next shot.

**_Honor-_**

Honor watched the children and adults, fascinated and sickened by the utter professionalism with which the children went about their grim business. She, too, saw the young girl fall, chest blown apart by these spells. Herself having a little boy and girl, she felt horrified by the sight - which she would have anyway, even if she didn't have the extra reasons to.

_I'm doubting even a pulser would do that... unless it was automatic. Then, of course...,_ she thought.

She watched Harry dispatch his enemy, and cursed herself slightly, thinking that she could have warned him sooner, but glad he took care of it himself. Her gaze shifted to Hermione, crouching partially behind the bay door, her rifle thundering every few seconds as it tossed slugs through the air at the command of her trigger finger, signaling the deaths of the - and she thought this the definition of "irony" - Death Eaters.

She then watched Echo, as he effortlessly dispatched every enemy that got close to them, before moving to assist a wounded soldier in getting out of the line of fire, hauling him up in the transport. As he did this, a Death Eater took aim at him and the soldier. Honor's arm snapped up, fingers extending, and the microcam in the cuticle of the fake finger fed through to her prosthetic eye, as she put two pulser darts into the woman, one in her heart and one in her head. The woman toppled to the ground, utterly lifeless.

Echo turned and looked, before nodding to Honor in thanks and getting back to work.

**_Echo-_**

Echo went about his work, his rifle flashing every time he squeezed the trigger, taking out Death Eaters. He had been trained for special operations, not full-on infantry combat, but being a SpecOp - well, that meant he was ready for any- and every-thing. He waded through the wand fire, ducking and weaving, as a new pair of thunderous cracks signaled that the other two snipers had found good spots and were now unloading on the bad guys.

_Heh, the bad guys. Honestly, they're not like that these days. More like "sheep". Coming to the slaughter. It's kind of depressing really. They used to be such a handful...._, he thought, putting spells into the Nibblers as he came to them. _But I doubt they'll be that way for long. Either a fighting force gets very good, very quickly, or it gets very... dead._

A spell impacted his chest, and he grunted, staggering back from the force of it, even as he brought the butt of his rifle up under the woman's chin, snapping her head back , even as the muzzle of his weapon leveled itself against her chest - which suddenly ceased to exist when the Reductor curse flew from the barrel.

Bits of blood and the woman's chest and organs splattered Echo - what of it that wasn't a fine pink mist already, anyhow.

A large man hurled himself upon Echo, and Echo staggered as he fell to the ground, hand twitching and bringing forth his sheathed gauntleted K-Bar. Echo brought it up under the man's jaw, only to have his arm blocked by the other man's, as his fingers curled around Echo's throat. Echo grunted and struggled, as stars popped in his vision, trying to break the man's hold on him with his own hands. He couldn't. The other man was simply too big.

"So, little 'un, how does it feel to be on the recieving end of the pain, eh?" the man asked, grinning murderously at Echo. Echo would've spit on him, but as it was, he had too little air. Echo kneed him in the groin, but instead of letting go of his neck, the man squeezed far harder as he howled in pain.

That was what ended his life, and saved Echo's.

Hermione heard it, and she immediately homed in on the source, and, spotting the man holding down and slowly killing Echo, she leveled her rifle, sighting down the top of the man's skull - and fired.

The supersonic round traveled the distance in less than an eyeblink, and crashed through his skull, the bullet starting to spin wildly now, it scything its' way through him - and exiting via the man's butthole.

The man was dead before he knew it, and his severed spinal cord made his arms go limp, letting Echo get free. He stood up, and wiped the brain and other matter out of his eyes, and turned to face the direction of the shot, spotted Hermione, and gave her a thumbs-up, by way of a thank-you gesture.

She returned it.

**_Ginny -_**

_Holy Christ..._, Ginny thought, as she stepped into the battle, _this, my friends, is what we call a Class-A clusterfuck. _She wove her way around spells, doing her best to return their favors with volleys from her sphere-launcher, the heavy _ponk-ponk-ponk _of the launcher contrasting sharply with the high-pitched electrical sounds of the spells and the thunderous cracks of the sniper rifles. She recognized the sound of - maybe - a half-dozen other launchers among the havoc, and saw other shells arch through the air, landing among the Nibblers, with catastrophic results for the bad guys.

_Here she comes, here she goes, boys and girls, _Ginny smirked to herself as she dodged around witches and wizards, sprinting to a nice vantage point, where she saw a sniper team making themselves comfy. _Looks like a good spot to start tossing in some grief. I'm going to ruin some poor bastard's/bitch's day._

She ran for the top of that hill, when a spell crashed into her back and brought her stumbling, landing on the slope of the hill, dizzily. She heard a trip-hammer of shots from the sniper's rifle, apparently ending her assailants nicely. She made a note to thank them when she got up there. Now, she moved more carefully, watching her back as she moved uphill. When she finally reached the top, who should she find but Tonks and her spotter, Bill Weasley.

"Hey you two, thanks for the help." she said, setting up the tripod on her grenade launcher and setting the grenade drums out beside her for quick reloading.

"Don't mention it, Ginny, Harry would likely have our heads mounted on his wall if something happened to you." Bill replied, and Ginny shook her head, blushing faintly.

"I imagine so." she said, noting Tonks' lack of verbosity - but she chalked that up to the thunderous crack that suddenly echoed as Tonks squeezed her trigger, ending a Death Eater.

Ginny lay prone, and sighted her targets and started running calculations through her head. _Let's see, this has a dropoff of... hmm, okay, and they are, what, a hundred - two hundred meters away? Okay... alright, got it._

Ginny raised the barrel of the launcher, and fired off a test shell - her first true war shot. It landed precisely where she thought it would - right among a group of Nibblers harrassing a squad of soldiers - and blowing the Nibblers to mist. _Oh hell yeah! Love it when I get things right. _Ginny thought to herself. She let the shells fly after that.

**_Alicia -_**

_What a rush! Flying used to be fun, but now... whoah. Combat adrenaline. Yeah, keep thinking that, Allie._

Alicia flew over everyone's heads, swooping low every ten or so seconds and combining with her gunners to rake the ground before them clean of Nibblers._ Not that it's doing much good. The ranks just seem to refill, no matter how many curses and borers we fire off, no matter how many clusters we drop... it's absolutely mad._

Alicia gritted her teeth as another Reductor, and another Killer, impacted the inch-thick armor of the ground-attack craft. It shifted to the side about a foot in midair, the combined curse making a pit in the armor about an eighth-inch thick. "Shit! Hey, you can fire even when we're not strafing. We're orbiting them - use the angle, break them down!" she shouted into the intracom. The mumbles of her two gunners returned to her, starting her chuckling as she turned in a loose orbit of the battlefield.

For about five minutes, they stayed like that - orbiting, blasting, generally causing havoc - and then, all hell broke loose.

A dozen mixed curses - Reductors, with a few Killers and even a Rending Curse mixed in - all flashed up at her. Alicia cursed and yanked back on the stick, pulling up - but too late. The spells connected with the side, and for a moment after they hit, it appeared that there would be no damage. Then, the craft simply shredded apart. Her gunners both screamed as jagged pieces of metal tore at them around their vests, bloodying them as they fell from the sky. Alicia screamed in absolute pain as her arm was shredded by a piece of shrapnel. She plunged through the sky, fumbling with her parachute- yes, exactly as the muggles used - and when it finally came to, and yanked her up jarringly, she lost consciousness.

**_Bellatrix -_**

_Well well, the little kiddies are putting up a good fight, _she thought as she dispatched a pair of the kiddies in question, _and I can't wait to get ahold of some of this equipment for the Dark Lord... it's lethal._

Almost as if on cue to her wishes, she spotted a parachute in the sky, rapidly approaching the earth. She grabbed a Death Eater, shouting "Go get that pilot!" , pointing to the woman dangling from the bottom." Bring her to me, and prepare to retreat!" The man nodded, and ran off to get her. Bellatrix smiled wickedly. _I'm about to become the Dark Lord's favorite person._

After a few minutes, the man ran back, carrying Alicia in his arms."Got her, Miss Bellatrix. We're ready to go." he said. Bellatrix nodded, and shouted the retreat.

A second later, a mass-flash, and they all Apparated out.

**_A\N: _**Well, people, how'd you like this one? Things are going to get a LOT more interesting from here on in. As always, please review. I need four reviews before I'll be able to write this thing properly :D


	12. Chapter 12: Aftermath

**_A\N:_**Wow, a bit.... enthusiastic, Fluffy. Thanks. My responses are as follows:

Erm, explain to me how the heck I'm supposed to know what military SOP is when I won't even get into AFJROTC at my school until next year? And she didn't "blow her finger off". I specifically wrote she removed her fingertip to shoot. If I'd put more time between intel retrieval and dustoff for the good guys, I'd have gotten her to go grab her .45 and pulser rifle out of the pinnace. The reason she doesn't call in the Marines is the fact that the Nibblers'd pretty much be slaughtered on sight, tribarrel or no, and it would basically end my plotline.

Follow my reasoning?

And yeah, story in general only rates a "So-So". Yadda yadda and assorted rebukes, heh.

The Nibblers are going to get a lot - a LOT - tougher, now that they've captured some of the... Eur-American Alliance's (?) tech. And, oh, if any of you have a suggestion as to a better name, a more original one, please don't hesitate to mention it in your next review! As always, looking for a beta.

Now, on with the story!

**_Chapter 12: Aftermath_**

**_Ireland, 50 clicks north of Castle Swords -_**

Harry walked amongst the flotsam of the battle, stepping around fallen soldiers and Death Eaters, as medics rushed amongst the wounded, trying desperately to save as many as possible. He saw the faces of many of his friends staring blankly up at him - never to move again. He felt like an old man, carrying an immense weight. He heard the screams of the wounded and dying on both sides, around him. He smelled the rusted-iron scent of blood, and the indescribable scent of death.

Honor watched him, knowing the weight that Harry carried, only too well. His gait slowed and closed together, and his eyes searched the ground before him. That was a luxury she'd never had - almost. Many of her dead were forever in the vacuum of space, many of them never more than atom sized.

Hermione walked slowly up to Harry after several minutes. She walked beside him, looking at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment, before clearing her throat, catching his attention. He looked up at her.

"Yes?" he inquired.

"We've counted casualties, Harry." she stated simply.

His eyebrows arched, inviting her to elaborate. She swallowed."We make it twenty eight dead, sixteen critical injuries, and another fourty seven of varying other degrees for our side." she said.

"And the Death Eaters?" he asked.

"Seventy four dead, and twelve about to be." she said.

Harry shook his head."We don't execute people." he said firmly, but she shook her head fiercely.

"No, their injuries are too severe. They'll die from them, not from an execution." she replied.

Hermione looked conflicted for a second, then sad."And, they captured Alicia. That's why they ran off." she said, looking like the words were going to sicken her.

Harry's face turned salt-white. His hands shook and his fists clenched. He closed his eyes tight, the magic radiating off him, things as far off as thirty meters shaking. Hermione backed a few feet away from him, as he got himself under control. When he could, he finally grated out."So, not only do they have ahold of one of my friends - and you _know_ what those ... people, will do to her! - but they have ahold of our latest equipment, too!" he exclaimed. "Well, there goes any 'advantage' we had! Right out the hatch! Just fan-bloody-tastic!"

Hermione nodded, looking pained."I do know... and I wish I could change that. But we can't until we get home and regroup, and who knows? Maybe the Death Eaters won't be able to reverse-engineer their own armor and guns. I hope they won't."

Harry snorted."That's about as likely as a hippogriff that never flies."

"But all the same, we really do need to be getting home - if only so we can get through the... letters home." she said softly.

Harry blinked, then closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. "I'm very muchly not looking forward to writing to the next-of-kin...." he said somberly. Honor, a few meters distant, nodded - she had written thousands of them, herself, and it never got any easier, whether she had known the person in question or not. Harry sighed."And I don't envy the troopers we have to send to deliver the letters... at all." he said.

Ron walked forward, a blackened smear on his face, rifle slung over his shoulder."I think we should be getting out of here, mate. Want me to call the _Phoenixes_ in?" he asked. Harry nodded.

"Let's get out of here, get the wounded back to the main hospital, regroup... find out what's happened while we've been here." he said, and Ron nodded, lifting a magical radio to his lips, calling the pilots down, and Harry got on his own radio, ordering the troops to board the heavy gunships as they sat down on the hard earth, stained red with blood. He watched as the wounded were loaded aboard the transports, seeing Ginny limp along into her _Phoenix_ , and he panicked a moment, before realizing it was just a twisted ankle.

He turned to his own transport, catching hold of the grab rail inside the craft, waiting for his platoon to enter, the door sliding shut behind them as the last one stepped on. "Get us out of here, Alex!" he shouted to the pilot, getting a salute in return as the pilot started the broomjets, bringing his craft off the ground to hover about ten meters in the air as the rest of the craft fell into formation behind him, and they darted forwards and upwards, sprinting home.

**_Underground Command Center, Berlin -_**

Voldemort walked the dark tunnels beneath Berlin, so recently captured, and Bellatrix was beside him, practically purring with joy. They were walking to the cell blocks, where a rather special prisoner was waiting for the dubious honor of being interrogated and tortured by Voldemort himself.

_Just a girl, a half-blood little twit. I have broken great witches and wizards ten times her stature in my time... this one should be no problem. _, Voldemort thought to himself. _And once I have the information I need... well, let's just say, my Death Eaters are rather vicious and cruel. Her life would be short and painful._

Voldemort turned from the cellblock, Bellatrix confused, then her expression smoothed as they walked towards the laboratories the Dark Lord had ordered built. There, he could conduct his own experiments in peace. But now, there were several Death Eaters from the Continent, poring over tomes and various artifact. The largest group, however, was clustered around the captured equipment from Ireland. A man prodded the vest-like thing with his wand, only to have the wand disintegrate in his hand, getting an angry mutter from him. Another researcher picked up the wand-gun, turning it over in her hands, putting a finger inside the trigger guard. She noticed the trigger wiggle, and pulled on it... vaporizing the man next to her with a Reductor curse. She shrieked, dropping it.

Voldemort glided over, picking it up."Fool! You were told this was a weapon, and yet you decided to let it go off!" he growled, casting a Crucio on the woman, causing her to fall to the ground in agony. He looked over to Bellatrix, standing next to him, letting off his spell, only to have Bella take up the slack.

He examined the weapon for several long minutes, trying unsuccessfully to pry it open, before seeing the rivets holding it together. With a wave of his wand, it fell apart, and his eyes glinted. He beckoned to the other researchers."There. Find out its' secrets, and begin manufacturing them for our forces. This can turn even the most Squib of witches and wizards into deadly warriors. I want it." he said, gliding from the room, towards the dungeons.

Minutes later, he entered Alicia's cell.

"Hello, Miss Spinnet." he drawled silkily.

Her reply was a nasty grin and a death glare."Oh, spare me, Moldyshorts. We both know what you're going to do to me - why not get it over with?"

His thin smile became thinner."Not very respectful of your elders, I see. You know, I believe this will be entertaining, breaking you." he said, eyes glinting evilly, as he raised his wand.

Her eyes became cold."Whatever happens to me, General Potter will make ten times worse for your people, when he finds out. And he will." she said, chuckling mirthlessly.

The door shut with a flick of his wand, and then nothing left Alicia's mouth but screaming for hours.

**_A\N: Yeah, I know it's short, but I felt like I had to put something out. And, it does set the stage for what happens soon, if you could see the foreshadowing._**

**_Reason for late posting? Lots. One of which was a friend of mine being shot, my dog dying, and a case of serious writers' block. It's cleared up now, I think._**

**_As always, Review!!_**


	13. Chapter 13: There and Back Again

* * *

_**A/N: **_Yes, that was a linking chapter. I'm not so great with plot-building, in the sense of characters developing, growing, learning... that sort of thing. So, that's why I'm still looking for a beta. Any volunteers? Anyone?

We're skipping ahead a little bit with the story, because I, like I'm fairly sure many of you are - yes, I _do_ look at my stats page - am tired of Ireland, much as I personally love the place. And, sorry for the laaaaaaaaaaaate posting.

**_Three months later...

* * *

_**

The next months saw an amazing string of victories for the Eur-American Alliance. The whole of Ireland was taken, and plans were being drawn for the establishment of a beach-head in England. Honor had requested her Marines be brought down, thus establishing their presence in Castle Swords. Because of the greater mobility and numbers of the witches and wizards, and the unfortunate lack of a significant number of assault shuttles, the Marines were largely delegated to guard duties at depots, bases, and warehouses.

By now, the scale of the wizarding conflict had proven too much for the magical government of the world to successfully hide, and rumors circulated in the muggle communities about what exactly was happening in Europe. And, to make matters more frustrating, the _Invictus_ was very nearly spotted several times by muggle astronomers who had to have their memories of the event erased. Honor ordered it to the far side of the moon, to protect it from telescopes and satellites.

Voldemort grew more and more frustrated with his losses, and his people. After the minor breakthroughs in recreating the Alliance's armor and weapons, nothing else came of it - not a single one of the haughty pureblood researchers had the imagination of a toothpick, so they treated the equipment with unearned aristocratic disdain - a fact which got several of them tortured badly several times a day. But, that by no means meant he didn't try to come up with things on his own - in fact, quite the opposite...

_**Dublin, Ireland -**_

_**

* * *

**_Honor stood on the balcony of a muggle hotel surreptitiously converted into the Alliance's headquarters, looking out over the water separating Ireland from England. She thought she could see the opposite shore from this height, but she wasn't sure. Nimitz buzzed happily on her shoulder, full to drowsiness with rabbit and celery. The corner of her mouth quirked as she again compared his normal perfect manners to the messy buzz saw he became when celery was involved.

The sounds of the ongoing staff dinner she'd inspired Harry to hold drifted out from the doors as she took a sip from her mug of cocoa, savoring the rich taste with no small bit of thanks for the genetically enhanced metabolism her ancestry gave her that let her be able to eat and drink such delights without having to worry about gaining weight. Of course, that would have to assume that her exercise regimen would let it...

Mercedes Brigham stepped out onto the balcony, coffee cup in hand. "The kid General takes after you, Milady." she commented, coming to stand beside Honor.

Honor chuckled."Maybe because I gave him the idea, Mercedes?"

Mercedes snorted."That could be a reason. Just maybe, you understand."

The two lapsed into silence for a time, before a harrassed looking Harry Potter stepped through the doors. He walked up to the two women, rubbing the feeling back into his facial muscles. "Hauswitz is a prick. He interrupted me nine sentences out of ten, I swear -" Honor listened to Harry, a small smile playing across her face as she listened to him describe the many faults of one Artur Hauswitz, the new liaison from Germany. He reminded her strongly of the Houseman clan, and wondered if there was a relation.

_Surely not, _Honor thought, _as if one of them in an eternity wasn't enough._

_**Two days later...**_

Harry sat in a conference room at the same hotel, thoroughly bored to death and giving his all into not showing it. The staff officers around him debated - sometimes loudly - about how best to break into England, what with all the enchantments Voldemort himself had cast around it, and the still nastier makeshift emplacements that some of the less-proud-and-haughty half-blood Death Eaters had come up with.

Harry was just about to call to the staff house elf for a sandwich when a memory hit him - _house elves' magic doesn't work like wizards' magic! _he thought. His sandwich forgotten, he stood from his seat. "Attention!" he called, and the chatter stopped, all eyes snapping to him.

"I've thought of something, that you all might have overlooked. Now, I have a question - are there any wards or enchantments capable of stopping a house-elf from apparating through them?" he asked. Several confused-looking staff officers shook their heads in a negative. "All right then, here's what I propose we do..."

Hours later, as he was exiting the conference room, Honor smiled proudly at him from a seat across the hallway. "Very inventive, Mr. Potter. I'm surprised someone else didn't think of it, however - the use of the elves would seem an obvious choice, if you don't mind me saying."

Harry chuckled."Yeah, but, that's the thing - most wizards don't think much of house-elves. A fair number think them less than human. It's just prejudice working against us." he said.

Honor nodded."Strange, that. Sometimes it removes our best tools from us, as you've so amply proven to them."

Harry's face split in a grin. "Yes, all those career military officers, the 'finest tacticians in Europe', who've been beaten to the punch by a snot-nosed kid like me. It's hilarious."

Harry cleared his throat."There's just one problem - how in God's name do we come even close to finding enough elves?"

Honor lapsed into silence for several minutes, rubbing her nose. Then her face brightened and she looked up."Harry, how about, instead of attaching one elf to each trooper, you attach one elf to each _Phoenix_? Could that work?"

Harry blinked, and nodded."I suppose. But it would lessen their range... we'd half to get them halfway across the Irish Sea before we'd be able to jump..." He thought for a moment, then grinned."Let's see if we can't borrow a landing craft carrier from our American friends? I know their Marines use them on their landings."

Harry turned on a heel and started for the communications room, and Mercedes turned to Honor and grinned widely."Just like you. Always thinking outside the box..."

Upon leaving the radio room - having gotten a promise from General Adams that he would do his best to provide them with a carrier - Harry went to his quarters."Dobby!" he shouted. With a crack, Dobby appeared in the room."Harry Potter be wishing to see Dobby, sir?" the little elf asked.

"Dobby, how far do you think you can apparate?" Harry asked. Dobby blinked.

"As far as Dobby be's needing to, I think." he replied.

"What about apparating with a fully loaded _Phoenix _and troops? How far then?"

Dobby thought."Maybe seven miles, I thinks."

Harry nodded."Listen, could you get as many elves as you can, from the base's kitchens? I need to you to ask if they would want to help us get through Voldemort's wards over England."

Dobby nodded enthusiastically."I can be doing that, sir! They would all be willing to help the great Harry Potter, I know it!"

With another crack, Dobby disappeared.

Within a week of these events, a USMC Landing Craft Carrier, the _Tripoli_, was waiting outside of a small harbor in Ireland, offshore of a large encampment. It was through this that Harry walked, surveying the preparations for boarding. He, having never really conducted operations like this, was glad of General Adams' presence, the grizzled old soldier limping along next to him, pointing out various aspects of the preparations. Things like, "Look at that tent over there, mister Potter. That's where your MASH unit's getting set up, ready to recieve casualties. They'll be going aboard shortly, setting up in a couple of bays specially set for the purpose."

Lizzie walked past them, fiddling with the controls on her new Japanese-made Stave Assault Weapon. Replacing the bundles of wands needed for the old cannon, the SAW used a single stave drawing off an magic-saturated liquid housed behind the stave itself. The overall effect was greater power and less weight. Needless to say, after the clunky old cannon, she was _very_ happy.

"Lizzie, you do realize that, unlike your old one, this one _does_ run out of shots?" Sarah asked, beside her.

Lizzie shrugged."So? I won't have to use so many, anyway." she said, sticking her tongue out at Sarah, who sighed, shrugged, and nodded in a single movement.

A few minutes' walk later, took them to the beach itself, where Echo was supervising the loading of the first of the LCACs that had come ashore. Absent a good loadmaster - due to the need for secrecy - the magicals were having to make due with who they had. Which, of course, meant that Echo would be among them. Harry walked up to him.

"How goes it?" he asked. Echo grinned.

"Tiring, dirty, and my voice is about to give out. I've had to pull artillery pieces out of the mud twice already today." he said, wiping his brow with a hand.

"Really? Why?"

"Well, most wizards have never been on a boat before, much less a hovercraft."

The next day, the preparations finished, the _Tripoli_ set sail for a natural harbor sixty miles south of London. At a range of ten miles, the wards around the Island made it too dangerous for the magicals aboard the ship to go any closer. They all felt pains within growing with each passing kilometre. So, there they weighed anchor. Harry pulled Hermione aside."Why does this hurt us so much, this far out? Surely the witches and wizards inside have got to be in pain!" he said.

"Because, Harry, they're _inside_ the wards already. These are meant to keep others out, not them in." Hermione said patiently.

Harry ordered all pilots to their crafts, and all troops to their _Phoenixes_. He made no grand speech, but made a point to talk to as many as he could. He boarded his dropship, Echo and his team, as well as Hermione and Ron, waiting.

"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Harry asked.

Hermione grinned."Once more into the breach, indeed. Dobby?" she asked. The elf turned to her. "Be ready to apparate us at Harry's signal."

Within minutes, the dropships lifted off. Harry switched on his radio."All troops brace. Elves, apparate us to the beaches."

With many thunderous cracks and strobing, one-end-to-another flashes of light, the 87 _Phoenixes_ of the 1st International Magical Division vanished.

**_A\N: It's done! Review! I'll have more out as soon as I can.  
_**


	14. Chapter 14: The Beaches

Hey all, another chapter of the Dawn of Honor out. Wow, this is quick, right? Anyway, thank you for the review , GinnyLover. I wasn't planning to go that direction, but after some serious thought, I decided: why not? My story arc can handle it, and we know little enough about the early days of colonization in Honor's universe I think I can get away with saying such-and-so-on happened, without David getting pissed at me. The only thing I'm wondering is if, after, say, chapter 20 or 25 of this story arc - assuming I can get that far - I should skip that time period and jump forward 500 years, or just write a whole sequel. Give me your thoughts.

As usual- I own NOTHING!!!

_**Chapter 14 - The Beaches**_

The transports blinked into a nimbus of broken - more to the point, utterly shattered - wards and kicked in the broomjets and disillusionment charms, skidding quitely, invisibly across the sky. The controllers at Heathrow Airport pitched a fit when their radar domes told them of the sudden appearance of the craft - for there was no spell on the craft to protect them from radar waves - but agents of Her Majesty's Government quietly stepped in and claimed a training excercise of experimental aircraft.

The formation ghosted towards Merlins Keep, a bustling Wizard-Muggle town on the line between Britain proper (on the map) and Wales. The uniqueness of the town was that every single Muggle there - and there were many, in fact - knew of the existence of magic. They didn't spread the word around, as most of them were family members of the magical folk that lived there. Those that weren't - well, they were the type to keep to themselves, anyway.

All about the town was decidedly normal, except for one, small problem - Voldemort had chosen it to be the headquarters of the United Kingdom's contingent of Death Eaters.

The town itself was not dark, but as it sat - secluded, relatively unknown - it was a very, very attractive place for a military person to set up shop - and keep hold of it.

One thing that had bugged hell out of the entire of the Alliance was just how the Death Eater's ranks had grown so hugely. The answer, as it turned out, was simple: Voldemort was winning. Huge numbers of half-bloods and quarter bloods and so forth joined up just so that they wouldn't be on the losing side of the fight. And, as people continued to join, still more decided, and still more thought about it. One would think that recent months' events would have discouraged this kind of thought, but, no. They all thought it was just luck - for the Death Eaters played their games close to the chest, keeping the information on the massive technological superiority of the Alliance out of general knowledge.

And, even that was slowly changing.

The half-bloods and less - or slightly more - were not arrogant, as their Pureblood counterparts were. And more intelligent, by an un-inbred mile. It was from them that innovation of the DE's own came.

**_Phoenix One, closing in on Merlins Keep-_**

Harry poked his head into the right-side viewing bubble of his Phoenix , trying to see through the low cloud-cover at their first target. They had been flying for an hour and a half, already.  
After a few minutes of trying, he finally gave up and sat back in the jump seat with a sigh. Ginny, sitting next to him, wrapped her arm around him. "Nervous?" she asked, softly.

"A little. I'm just a little twitchy. We're back home, but not home, y'know? And then, of course, there's Moldyshorts and his Death Nibblers..." He said, adding the last as a weak attempt at humor - and it was treated as such, getting a weak groan and a punch in the arm from Ginny. He grinned."That really was bad, wasn't it?"

"Understatement of the century, Harry." She said, snuggling into him."I wonder if the Burrow's still standing. I rather doubt it... would be nice, all the same." she said, and Harry nodded.

"Yeah. I guess we'll have the chance to find out, at some point." he said, and they lapsed into silence for ten minutes, before attention lights flashed an angry crimson above them , and everyone in the bay stood up, some of them looking sleep-ruffled - or snog-ruffled, in Ron and Hermione's case - and straightened themselves out, and the racking of bolts and the sharp clacks of magazines and drums from some of them and the shhk-shhk of rifles' charging levers - and they did just that, connecting the magic-saturated liquid stored in the stock of the weapon to the short, stubby mass-produced wand that was the core of the weapon, so that it would not have to rely on the caster for purpose or energy - filled the bay.

The former low murmur of pilot's chatter on the headsets went abruptly silent as they switched to a different channel so they could talk as much as neccessary without interrupting the ground-troops' communications. Dull thuds echoed against the hull of the craft, and Harry touched his earpiece. "Carmen, what's going on?" he inquired.

"Some sort of flak, sir." Came the voice of Carmen Ibanez, their pilot. "Nothing's coming even really close, but tell everyone to hold tight back there - the other pilots are doing the same, and we're about to make these birds do thingsthey were never meant to."

Harry grimaced and strapped in tight, knowing the bruises that would come were infinitely preferable to being tossed around like a marble in a jar. He advised everyone to do the same, and the instant compliance was pure sign of Carmen's famous - or infamous, depending on your viewpoint - flying. It's not that she wasn't good - oh no, she was the best, or they'd have been paste long ago - but, she was a crazy flier.

True to form, and to her word, Carmen slung the craft in a tight barrel roll, diving toward the earth with broomjets screaming. The twin stave-cannons on the nose belched massive Reductor spells, and Harry was quite positive that Avery Johnson, their craft's main gunner, was giving someone one hell of a bad day.

The booming thuds lessened somewhat, and Harry was about to sigh in relief when a particularly loud one was followed by the distinct sensation that up and down were arguing about who was where, and left and right were about to join the party. It didn't feel uncontrolled, so they weren't hit, but to Harry, it definitely felt like rehearsal for dropping out of the sky.

The sensation abruptly stopped and was momentarily replaced by the feeling that Harry's stomach was in his ankles. This, too, stopped, but he could still hear distant thuds, and the still-present crump-crump-crump of the staves' overpowered blasts. Static crackled for a moment before Carmen came on the air. "Everyone still with me back there?" she asked.

Harry looked around. Most of them looked like him, alright but shaken up. Some, though, had turned an interesting shade of green. Still others had already released their straps and had cracked the right bay door open and were introducing the countryside to their own version of warfare - carpet puking.

He tapped his headset."More or less."

He could hear her low chuckle."Well, the newbies have to experience one of my performances sometime. Of course they're not going to react well."

"These aren't newbies."

"Really? Well then. I guess they'll just have to get over it, hmm? Alright, coming up on landing zone, the Pathfinders have laid orange smoke." She reported, then clicked off-circuit.

They set down well behind the main contingent, and well before it. Ginny gave Harry a peck on the cheek, then called her team out and they found a spot to set their two mortars up in. Hermione and Sarah gathered their equipment and ghosted away from the LZ, melting into the landscape to find a place to set up.

Echo walked up to Harry."So, Harry. What do you think that flak was?" he asked. Harry shrugged.

"Damned if I know. I think we're going to find out, but right now, I'm not too worried. With pilots like Carmen, we're not likely to have trouble with mere flak, yeah?"

Meanwhile, the rest of the troopers spread out, scouting the town stealthily, noting any suspicious activity - and most importantly, the flak guns, which still boomed with basso croomp-croomp sounds.

As the main body of the attack began to appear overhead - no need for disillusionment spells now, at the last moment - Harry and Echo and their teams re-boarded the transport, leaving behind a guard for Ginny and her mortarpeople. Both port and starboard bay doors remained open this time, so they all grabbed onto the overhead grab bars as they soared through the open air at two hundred and ten kilometers per hour. They swooped low over the town, frightened inhabitants fleeing to the relative safety of basements, while the flak guns adjusted the angle of their guns. Then the thought hit Harry - they have radar!

He keyed the all-frequencies button on his headset."Alliance troops, this is Phoenix One. Be advised, the Nibblers have muggle radar. Flak accuracy will improve as you get closer to ground level. Use caution, people." he said, before switching back to ground comms.

He leaned out the side as the hail of curses from Death Eaters below began, and four of the troopers in the bay risked being tossed out as they sprinted to the side guns, two to a side, strapping themselves in and raining hexes and curses back at them. They continued moving for the center of town.

As they got closer, Harry noticed a strange commotion. Looking down and to the east a bit, he could see Death Eaters trying to force their way into a house - trying to find cover, probably - and being unable to, finally resorting to cursing it off the hinges. As soon as it was down, a large bronze round shield soared through the air at neck height, with disastrous consequences for the Death Eaters in its' path. From behind this disc of death stepped a raven-haired teen with a glittering sword, her right hand holding it while her left held a black wand, using both to devastating effect upon the would-be intruders.

As the transport passed above, she stopped to wave a moment, before a disarming spell relieved her of wand and weapon. But rather than deter her, she simply made a straight tossing motion, casting the Death Eaters away from her. Picking up her sword, shield, and wand, she retreated back into the house as the Phoenix passed out of range, descending toward the town-hall-turned-Death-Eater-fortress in the center of town.

Harry was deep in thought until Ron shook his shoulder."Hey mate, let's go!" he said, gesturing to the fast approaching ground. Harry shook himself, and shouldered his weapon. "Alright, here goes."

_**A\N: Hey folks! There you go! I hope you were entertained by this chapter. Yesh, yesh, no Honor in this one. But her role in this story has yet to come.**_


	15. Chapter 15: The Hedgerows

_**Disclaimer: In the word stylings of Yoda..."Own nothing I do."  
Notes at the end of chapter.**_

_**Chapter 15: The Hedgerows**_

Four feet from the ground, the red light unneccessarily switched green, half the troops already out the door. Harry hopped out and landed in a crouch, his legs and knees taking the impact as he brought his rifle up, looking around them. The troopers, almost immediately, spread out and took cover and covering positions around him. A stream of spells hurled themselves out of a nearby window, either hitting ground or bouncing harmlessly off the transport's armor. Harry looked over just in time for him to see the transport's main cannons light up the evening sky, demolishing the whole front of that building with one enormous thump.

Lizzie looked from her weapon to those on the front of the transport and might have started to salivate if a blasting-potion filled sphere hadn't come from a window above them. "Down!" Echo yelled, pulling her away from the grenade and hurling the both of them into the cover of a dumpster. One of the troopers wasn't as lucky. When the grenade went off, he was thrown tumbling through the air, the back of his armor and BDUs on fire, to hit the side of a building with a wet thunk.

Harry waved the group's medic over to the man, whose first order of business was putting the man out with a spray of water from his wand. Harry unhooked a grenade from the web belt on his armor, thumbed the primer, and threw it through the upper-story window the other had come out of. Seven seconds later, an explosion filled the ears of those below and dust rained down around them. A busted, nasty-looking weapon flew out of the upper-story window and landed at Echo's feet. He picked it up and examined it."Cripes!" he exclaimed, holding it up for Harry to see."They've got them now, too." he said.

Harry shrugged."It was only a matter of time, Echo. You did know that, right?" he added at the end with a small chuckle. Harry frowned."Why would they have them, though? Most of the Nibblers I've heard of are pureblood maniacs. I guess someone over there has a brain." The medic hefted the man to a stretcher, handing him off to one of the medics in the transport, and rejoined the group.

Aside from that initial confrontation, the way into the heart of the town was suspiciously quiet, with only a few odd skirmishes between the Alliance troops and the defenders. They found out why when Lizzie tried to open a door to a house, a block away from the town hall.

As her hand started to turn the doorknob, the door exploded, seperating her and her hand and throwing her to the street, a sliver of wood having spiked itself through her chest, all the way out her back. Her screams and a hundred shouted curses split the air, Death Eaters popping up out of trashcans, alleyways, windows, and certain covered rooftops. A _Phoenix_ exploded in mid-air as the previously silenced flak guns opened up on it.

Harry and Echo's teams grabbed some ground as Harry combat-crawled over to Lizzie, dragging her behind a wall, on her side, by her armor straps. The medic rushed over to her, slung off his surgical pack and set it beside her and beckoned a trooper over to help. Harry then turned away from her, going to a knee, and poured fire back into the Nibblers' positions, as the rest of the troopers found spots and did the same. A grenade planted itself at Harry's feet, and he spot-kicked it straight into a Nibbler-occupied dumpster. A brief scream added itself to all the others before the dumpster, heavy steel like it was, jumped about a foot in the air as the explosion escaped out a rusted hole in the bottom, the twin lids jumping about atop it.

Zach started thumping rounds through windows as another trooper picked up Lizzie's SAW, sighted in, and added its' own noise to the cacaphony already in place, bringing down the fronts, sides, and roofs of buildings that curses came from. Harry just hoped that no innocents were inside any of them. He tapped his earbud."Ginny? Ginny, we're a block east and south of the Town Hall building. Lizzie's been hit and we're under fire. I need you to pull the roofs down on these people. Charm your shells to seek heat and we'll do the rest." he said.

"Alright, Harry. Mortars coming down in five." Ginny replied."Don't get yourself killed, sir. These things aren't firecrackers."

Harry pulled his wand from its' holster on his hip, and pointed it towards the doorstep of a particularly heavily-occupied building."_Incendio_!" he intoned, the spell whizzing through the air to catch the wooden railing on fire. Moments later, a shell dropped out of the sky with a flutter, and exploded, sending pieces of building whistling through the air as Alliance troopers hunkered even further behind their cover, counterfire against the nibblers slacking for a moment. Three nibblers, formerly behind a series of trashcans thrown up like a barricade, got up on one knee, and appeared to be pulling grenades out of their robes when six ear-shattering cracks split the air and they suddenly found their arms seperated from their torsos.

High in the air, observing in a stealthed cutter orbiting the town, Honor watched closely. Her long fingers rested on the controls, diligently moving the observation camera, watching how the battle was playing out. Nimitz purred anxiously on her shoulder, his desire to take part in the battle obvious. She stroked him with her mind and free hand, trying to impress upon him the need to relax. Across from her, Tony Ramirez watched with interest as the scene played out far below."He has a good plan, Skipper; surround, divide, terminate. But, his people are no Marines." he said with a grin, and a wistful look came to his face."I wish there were enough of us to carry this out ourselves.. but, oh well. How I wish for the fleet!"

Given that the _Invictus_ had been the fleet's flagship, naturally, she would carry the fleet's highest ranking Marine to oversee it: Brigadier General Tony Ramirez, and Honor was just as happy to have her old friend around, in addition to his crack Marine battalion.

Back on the ground, Ginny thunked another round downrange, sitting in the gunner's chair, keeping a weather eye on her targetting readouts. She began mumbling things about generals needing to stay back to lead their troops, and serious consequences if Harry got so much as a paper cut on him, as her team slid another round into the barrel."Fire in the hole!" Ginny called, sending her team to their positions as the big gun lit up the night once more.

___

Across town, Hermione and Susan Bones, her spotter, lay atop a hill, fully camoflaged and Disillusioned, and turned their sights toward the newly-reoperational flak guns.

"Herm, I've got two on the gunners seats, two behind a blasted wall, and another four shuttling ammunition with _Leviosa_ charms. Do you see them?" Susan asked Hermione.

"Yes, I have them. Do James and his spotter have them?" Hermione asked back. A quick check on the headset confirmed that.

"Alright then, I'll take ones the left, tell him to take the ones on the right and count down from three." Two... one...

A furious oct-hammer of thunderclaps, four to a rifle, marked the end of the Death Eaters manning the flak battery. A satisfied smirk lit up Hermione's face."Didn't miss a one!" she said happily.

"Of course not. It's a test, and you don't ever miss a question." Susan said, rolling her eyes.

With a wave, Harry advanced with his troopers as Lizzie and the other trooper were picked up by an ambulance broom, the two medics hopping off the dust-off and putting them gently in the stretchers built into armored pods on either side of the main body, after carefully cutting the long timber-shard down to size so that Lizzie could fit in. They shut the top-hatches on the wells, stasis fields engaging on the pods, and, with a puff of ground-effect, sped off to the _Pheonixes _that were serving as both field-hospitals and wounded transport.

Echo's troops surged down an alleyway, staying low and quiet, and stormed a quartet of buildings, encountering Death Eaters in each building, tossing grenades in ahead of them, their point people immediately ducking into the room after the grenades going off. The scene was usually quite... gruesome. One panicked corporal tore straight out of one of the buildings, puking behind a dumpster. "Major Traviss, we've found... something. I think we've been had." a shaken sergeant radioed in.

Echo looked into the house in particular and paled. A whole family was lying dead in the room across from the entry, and it was quite clear to him that that was grenade damage, and not Death Eater caused, either."Jesus Christ!" He exclaimed, backing out. "Can't you guys check first? This is a damn city, after all!" he bellowed. A lieutenant stood his ground."Sir, how are we supposed to know if civilians are in there? Go up and check? Get our heads blown off while looking in through a window?"

Echo growled, and gave the man a glare."No more blasting grenades. Stun grenades only. Am I clear?" he said, his voice like frozen hydrogen. The man snapped a sarcastic salute.

"Yes, sir."

Honor was watching the battle with interest, when an ensign tapped her shoulder."Ma'am, Sensor is picking up an unidentified craft heading in our direction. Mass readings place it at about a megaton, and it's got impellers. It's spouting a Havenite transponder code."

* * *

Harry, with his team out on the other street, advanced a block and a half, meeting lessening resistance as they moved west. Harry's neck-hairs began to tingle about halfway down the street, and he looked around him, seeing nothing and no-one but his troopers and the buildings.

All of a sudden, a feeling like that of a sliver of cold steel touched his neck, and a slim arm wrapped around his necks, pulling him to a stop as one of his troopers saw the culprit and stuttered a warning, eight weapons charging immediately as they twisted around.

Harry looked over to his shoulder, and glimpsed the girl he'd seen fighting with sword, shield, and wand earlier. Her short black-red hair hung limp, and her face was dirt-stained at this point, but Harry could see his troopers blink in astonishment, as her ice-blue eyes pierced them just like their commander's. Harry saw his something of mother's face in hers.

"Hello, Harry."

____________

_**Aaand, cliffie! I'm so sorry about the length of time for this chapter to come out - serious writer's block. Then, I realized, no, my good chap, you are not blocked, you're lazy! and then got to work. Hope you all like it, and as usual, reviews really do drive me to work more.**_


	16. Chapter 16: Encounters

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize, but everything you don't... kinda. Echo and team are mine - use my version of magitech if you want, just accredit me, yeah?**_

**Chapter Sixteen: Encounters of the Potter Kind**

A very suprised Harry blinked and blurted out, "Who are you?" The girl gave him a predator's lazy grin.

"Your best friend, or your worst enemy, Harry Potter. Tell your soldiers to stand down." she said in a low voice. A small gesture from Harry made them comply. "What brings the mighty Potter to battle in Britain again?" she inquired.

Harry drew a breath."We're here to take the land back from Voldemort, and from there go to France and wipe them out there, and... you can see where I'm going with this." She nodded. "And now who are you, again?? Can you _please_ get your knife away from my throat?"

The knife dropped away from him, and her arm unwrapped from him - and like lightning, Zach and another trooper had her arms pulled behind , unarmed now. Harry waved them off as he turned around."Leave her be." he commanded, and studied her slight, wiry build. Her face was covered in grime, which was no better than could be said for the rest of her, from blood-stained top to grime-covered bluejeans and mud-caked sneakers. Her iced blue eyes bored into his, and gave him a very Dumbledore-like feeling of being X-rayed.

They let go, and she shrugged her arms back into place, rubbing her wrists. "I feel _so_ unwelcome." she said, dusting herself off, a little. "Since you so _kindly_ asked, my name is Prudence Jane Evans. Hello, _cousin_."

________

Honor walked into the flag deck of the _Invictus_, sealing her fresh uniform. The quiet murmur from the various stations made itself known at the door and by the time she got to the admiral's chair had proceeded to a decible count in the mid-seventies.

"What's the status on our Havenite ship? Have they seen us yet?" she asked of Sensor and Comms.

"No, ma'am, we're in Luna's sensor shadow, and they're coming in, fat and happy. Muggle radar will start picking them up in about... four hours."

"We'll need to stop them before that point, of course. What about raising them on comms?"

"We'll be trying shortly, if they don't stop their approach. We don't want them getting to Earth. As soon as they get within twelve million kilometers of the planet, let me know, and raise them on FTL." she ordered.

"Aye, ma'am." the commsman replied.

Honor tapped up a button on her chair arm, causing a display on her right chair arm to come to life, and showed her a view of the intruder. As the Mars-class battlecruiser began its' rotation on her screen, Honor sighed softly. A single one of those, at that range, would cause quite some trouble for even the _Invictus_. And the fight would most definitely be seen from Earth.

"Roll three patterns of pods, Guns. I want them ready to fire when that battlecruiser arrives, if we can't peaceably get them to turn around." she commanded.

"Aye aye, Admiral." her gunnery station replied.

And so Honor settled in to wait.

___

Further to the north and west, a small force of Alliance troops locked into a firefight with Death Eaters in Hogsmeade. Houses shattered like balsa wood under a sledgehammer as artillery rounds slammed into them, and the light-leaning and neutral members of the community all had a collective spark of an idea - that it would be very, very wise to _hide_. And that they did, many of the older members having had operational bombshelters since the '50s, built during the nuclear scare. There were some things even magic couldn't stop.

George Weasley was laughing as he hosed Death Eaters with curses from a SAW, the ex-prankster wishing he could have gotten ahold of a stave before the war, and used it for pranking with Fred in school. He whistled as he lined up on the foundation of a building - with a pang he recognized the old Zonko's shop - that was providing cover for a group of Nibblers, and let fly with an overpowered Rending Curse, the shop twisting like it had been twisted with a giant hand, splinters flying in all directions as it imploded on the vacuum that appeared in the center of it.

"Lord, I love this weapon. Tasha, duck!" he called, the girl in question grabbing ground a split second before a Killing curse split the air where she'd been just moments before. He lined up again, and set the house the curse had come from alight, a herd of blazing Death Eaters coming screaming out of the house to be put out of their misery by curses from the guns of the Alliance troopers. By and large, this force was composed of British and Irish wizards and witches, and none of them felt much remorse for the two-legged animals they were killing in number.

Their artillery gun silenced, and moments later, the _Phoenix_ tasked with carrying it wisked by overhead, its' clamshell rear doors finishing their closing sequence.

George moved into Hogsmeade proper, and alighted himself in the Mayor's house, sitting himself in a highbacked chair as he switched to the all-forces channel on his headset.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Alliance, Admiral Harrington, I'm pleased to tell you that as of this moment, Hogsmeade is once more in our hands. And if General Potter's forces are advancing as planned, we'll soon have one of the most important magical towns back under our control, and a very good supply depot to boot. All leave requests should be forwarded to your commanders, who should forward them to me, Major George Weasley, who will be setting up a Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes as soon as I can." he said, grinning and clicking off the headset.

___

Harry stood there dumbly for a moment, thoughts like, _Cousin? Dumbledore told me... no, he didn't. He never mentioned this.! _and, _Evans, though... Mom had red hair, and I thought her only sister was Aunt Petunia...yet more things I don't know about._

And all the while Prudence stood there with an eyebrow cocked, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "I see you don't believe me."

Harry nodded. "How can I? I've been lied to before, and this isn't exactly likely. I mean, why would I just "happen" to run into my "cousin" in a town I've just invaded, when I don't have any other family-" he started, but she raised a hand, cutting him off.

"As far as you know, anyway. Like you said, you've been lied too before." she explained, face twisted in an almost Malfoy-esque smirk. "My parents were killed too. When your Mum and Dad got me, they were about five days from having you, and sent me to live with Remus Lupin. He swore to never tell anyone, not even you, Harry, that you had a family member still alive. Why? Because he listened to dear old Dumbles." Her eyes hardened and went glacial. "That's why he didn't tell you, and I've been hiding out at our house since he and m- Tonks got killed." she paused then, eyes softening in about the space of a blink, wiping her face with a handkerchief from a jeans pocket, and her eyes as they misted a little. "Teddy's been with me the whole time, in case you've been wondering. You know how hard it is to look out for a baby when you're seventeen? And not even his mother, at that!"

Harry reeled, processing the information. The story Prudence laid out was possible, but why had Dumbledore kept this from him? Surely such a great Light Side family as Dumbledore had said his was would have joyously announced the birth of another part of the clan? Was it that quince-damned Prophecy again? "Why didn't Dumbledore tell me all this?"

Prudence looked back at him."Because, Harry, he didn't want you know. Even _I_ didn't know I was your cousin until Dad told me!" It took Harry a second to remember that Remus had raised his cousin, and that's who "Dad" was. Anger welled up in him - she got the good end of the bargain, and he had to live with the Dursleys!

But before he could make this known, Prudence went on. "And just so you know, Harry, I'm kind of glad no one knew we're related. That kind of fame must suck for you, but think of how it would've been for me! Maybe not half as bad, but still! It might have splashed on me..." she trailed off, doing a mock shiver, trying to pass a point. Harry glared a half-moment, before letting out a breath in a chuckle.

"No, I don't think you would like that at all." he said, recalling all the trouble his supposed "fame" had landed him in. Prudence turned towards the troopers, and the rest of the town, and watched it burn and shake under the assault.

"Look, the old apothecary just went up... Mrs. Talbot was like a grandma to me whenever Dad was away with his Order business..." Prudence said absently. Harry glanced at her, and winced as he remembered how he felt when Hogwarts fell. That was his home; this was hers.

With a sudden explosion of movement, Prudence turned to him, drawing her sword and letting it hang by her side. "Harry, can you send someone to come pick up Teddy? I want to help you all drive the louts out, but I can't just leave him here." Harry nodded to one of his troopers, who immediately got on the comm and ordered one of the heavily stretched stretcher-craft to come pick the child up as Prudence ran inside a nearby house, returning with the cute baby.

Harry smiled back as the little tyke smiled at him, and his grin wavered when he suddenly found himself looking at a mirror image of himself as a baby, right down to the lightning-bolt scar. Before anything could be said, Teddy laughed with excitement as the dust-off stretcher-craft alighted with a whine of broomjets and a puff of dust. A young boy, probably no older then twelve, dismounted from the pilot's seat, in full pilot suit and helmet, and strode over to them. "This the kid?" he asked, looking at Teddy from behind the built-in glare protector on the helmet, turned against the morning glare of the sun. He resembled an overlarge insect, and Teddy gleefully, loudly made a point of that, reaching for him with cries of."Buhg!"

The group of troopers, smack in the middle of a warzone - no place for a baby to be, no sir - laughed a good bit about that while Prudence handed him over, along with a few little things. She fixed an if-looks-could-kill glare on the poor pilot until he gulped, and let him know, under no uncertain terms, that if Teddy was hurt in any way, she would personally make him a eunuch. With much agreeing and promises of safe conveyance, the pilot practically fell over himself and his charge in his haste to get away from the green-eyed girl with the sword in her hand.

Harry could almost see the callsign soon to be stenciled in by laugh-stifling, well-or-ill-meaning ground-crew and pilots."Bug" was going to have a hard time living this one down. As the dust-off took flight, Teddy waved at them.

Turning to Harry, Prudence saluted him with her short, Roman-styled sword, and a stray thought of his was that he'd very much like to know why she'd be fighting with such weaponry, but that was a question for later. Harry nodded to his point man. "Jeffery, take us in." he said to him, gesturing towards the Town Hall at the end of the street. With a flurry of hushed orders and handsignals, the group proceeded down the street in a spread-out pattern. A few small firefights broke out in the thousand feet between them and the Hall, but they broke through with minimal injuries and took positions around the main doors.

As Harry prepared to give the order to advance, Prudence ghosted over to his side."Harry, may I go in first?" she asked simply, quietly. A nod and a gesture got her in front of the door and in a vest. She unslung her shield from her back, and took the offered stun grenade, pulling the pin and holding down the spoon. She held up three fingers to the others, counting down before blowing the door off its' hinges with a reductor curse, hurling the grenade through the open doorway.

Milliseconds after the muffled _whoomp_ resonated outside, Prudence sprang through the door amid a flurry of spellfire, sword spinning like a dervish as she made contact with Nibblers. The rest of the group followed very soon after, prepared to let loose with spells, only to find Prudence already half-finished with the group of unfortunate Nibblers that happened to be guarding the doorway. The troopers - and Harry - had to settle for seconds, this time.

Within a matter of minutes, Town Hall was secured, and the Death Eater leader in the city - one Augustus Rookwood - was frog-marched out onto the Hall lawns after ordering the surrender of the rest of the Nibblers. From there, a POW _Phoenix_ took him back to the landing craft carrier to be held in the brig.

The first of the civilians to come out of hiding gaped in shock at the damage to their town. The remaining bunches did as well, but at that point, Alliance troops and those civilians that had shaken it off got busily to repairing as much of the damage as possible magically, and using plain old elbow grease when it couldn't be done that way. Ron met with Harry and after a brief talk with he and Prudence- during which Prue nearly removed his nose permanently for a very tactless comment - he got to supervising the setup of a supply depot and base for the Alliance forces, and the landing pad soon crowded with _Phoenixes_ bringing in fresh supplies. The control center was coming along nicely.

Six other assault forces had met with and defeated their targets - two had not. The casualty lists from 6 and 8 Companies were staggering, and they were being evacced to the Keep as fast as _Phoenixes_ were available.

A young sergeant walked up to Harry as he surveyed the reports coming in from around the UK. "Sir?" he asked. Harry looked up.

"General Adams is on the line. He's requesting an update on the situation, and what you plan to do next."

Harry paused a moment in his reading, and thought that over. Then he looked up."Tell the good General that we're going to finish mopping up here and do repairs and reconstruction. We're going to hold what we've got, and start the offensive back in three months. Dismissed." he said.

The sergeant snapped to attention and saluted sharply, and about-faced and went back to the comms center.

_**A\N: And there it is, folks. A long time coming, too. That's the end of the actiony bits for a while, as I think I'm rushing this story's action a little much. It'll slow for a few chapters, likely, and then we'll get on to the mainland. I'm still debating as to what I'm going to do with this timeline... hmm. I may end up making the war that's going on now into the Final War from HH canon - and if I can insert a bad guy named Colonel Greene, I might.  
**_

_**Falar, thank you much for your very constructive reviews. I hadn't known I was playing Honor and crew wrong. I'm doing a very hasty reread of the series, now. It should improve.**_

_**~Jaing Skirata**_


	17. Author's Apology

**Author's Note:**

**Good Lord, I've just realized it's been two years (!) since I updated this thing, and the horrible thing is that I don't even have an excuse. At first it really was just writers' block, but then... life wandered away and left this in the dust.**

**I'll see about putting out a new chapter, and to be honest, I'm really beginning to question why I ever thought I could write Honor to begin with. Of course, keep in mind I could put myself more in the mindset of Harry & Co. because at the time I started writing this I was fourteen years old. Still...**

**Look forward to a new chapter of both of my stories soon, if I can tear myself away from writing my original work. Might be a tad difficult when I'm doing a 10-15 pages a day most weeks. But, we shall see, we shall see indeed!**

**Many apologies and best wishes,**

**Jaing**


	18. Chapter 17: Walls

A/N: Own nothing, I do.

_**CHAPTER 17: Walls**_

The next months were a blur as reconstruction continued across the swathe of Alliance-held land in Britain, repairing cities and towns damaged in the fighting. British partisans swelled the ranks of the native-born Alliance contingent as they were discovered and exfiltrated across the breadth of the Island, lending their numbers and considerable expertise to the growing force. It was an utter miracle that the fighting had not been discovered (mostly) by the UK's non-magical population, and pains were taken to be sure that it _wasn't_ noticed. Members of Her Majesty's Special Air Service joined the magicals in their fight, of course – being Muggle was no hindrance to using a wandgun or a regular firearm, both of which had distinct advantages and disadvantages over the other.

One day found Harry levitating a truckload of brick, while a team of witches and wizards turned it into a fully-finished house with a single, coordinated wave of their wands. The bricks flew from the pallets, floating mortar plates and trowels darting about as each layer was laid, spreading the cement-like substance and tidying it up with deft movements, and inside of twenty minutes, the house had been rebuilt to original specifications (minus, of course, the amenities and comforts inside, which a misplaced Rending Curse (Ron's) had obliterated when it had wrecked the original structure). It was this speed that let them fix so much in the space of a few months, where teams of Muggle workers would have required twice the time, even a year or two, before they would have gotten as much done as the Alliance volunteers did in that timeframe.

Most days were like that, and then there were the days where another partisan cell would get into contact with Alliance command asking for help (usually in the form of a wing of Broomriders getting them out of extremely bad situations. There is much to be said for the utility and virtue of high speed and higher explosives.) Since the day the Alliance forces had assaulted Merlin's Keep, the main body of the Death Eaters had been unusually silent, with only minor raids every week or so to keep the Alliance on their toes, it seemed. Harry and everyone else knew that Voldemort was up to something, but they were grateful for the chance to fix the damage that the war had wreaked on their homeland, adopted (in the case of some of the Americans) and native alike.

Hermione, of course, had a field day when the field science-wizards from America arrived, bringing with them their research, equipment and expertise, as well as a plethora of new gear that they wanted to test in actual combat conditions. The group of men and women accepted her into their midst with open arms, despite her age, seeing her passion for knowledge and the information to be gained from speaking with her about the situation on the ground here as invaluable.

She showed up one day, about a month and a half into the three-month stand down that Harry had ordered, beaming with excitement and pride. Clearly, being around people as smart as she was was something fairly new to her. Harry looked up from the rather substantial sandwich he was eating and raised one eyebrow. "You look like you've been having fun."

"Of course, Harry! They've done some _amazing_ things with mixing Muggle technology with magic – things every textbook I've ever read tell me are impossible. It's been a bit upsetting, actually… but good Lord, there's so much to learn and see. You should come down to the labs at the Castle and see what we're doing over there." She said, and her brown eyes twinkled when she smirked. "I guarantee you're going to enjoy what we're working on right now."

"Which is, Hermione?" he said, curious.

"Well, one of our biggest problems right now with our broom-riders is that they are very, very exposed while they're going into and during combat, right?"

"Right…"

"_Well,_ yours truly had the wonderful idea of using the Americans' Magic Reserve Batteries to power an _extremely_ powerful Protego charm when the rider says "Shield" while flying. It can stop anything up to a Rending Curse." Hermione said, just a bit smugly.

Harry grinned and stood, wrapping his bushy-haired friend in an uncharacteristic hug. "You're brilliant. Have I mentioned that lately?"

Hermione colored a little bit, but her chin stayed raised and her eyebrows twitched in amusement. "Oh, not more than a dozen times a day…"

"Prat."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Harry strolled through the encampment, checking the wards that the ward-engineers had thrown up to protect it. The Alliance had taken to keeping their forces roving, so that the Death Eaters could never be sure quite where they were. Though it was the dead of night, the camp was far from still and silent. Sentries roved about, and the night-owls and late-watch alike flitted from tent to tent, running one errand or another. It was warm, still, despite being nearly September. Their position near the coast helped as well, of course.

A group of broom-riders swooped past him, low enough to ruffle his unruly hair with the speed of their passage. As he watched, standing with his thumbs hitched on his pockets, the riders began to be surrounded by a glowing ellipse of energy, just before a series of booms shook the camp, and they disappeared. He shook his head – Apparating while flying was a noisy, tricky business that tended to leave one somewhere other than where they expected to be, unless they were Apparating to something in their line of sight.

A small, warm hand slipped between his hand and his pocket, and he turned his head to see a particular beautiful redhead smiling at him. He pulled the hand in question from his pocket, entwining his and Ginny's fingers together.

"Don't you have dawn watch, Ginny?" Harry teased. "You're going to be dead on your feet."

"Not all of us have the luxury of being able to sleep in til eight o'clock in the morning, it's true." She retorted with a grin and a short chuckle of her own. "I think I'll manage." She said, turning to face him, wrapping her arms about Harry's neck and kissing him gently. "You, Mr. Potter, have been entirely too busy lately." She muttered against his lips.

He returned the kiss with a bit more gusto than usual, and a small, disengaged portion of his brain told him that she was absolutely right. That same part of his brain decided to take that moment to catalogue how many aches and pains he had that he had managed to ignore for months now, and he winced guiltily inside as he realized how long it had been since the last time he and Ginny had had time to meet even like this.

"Sorry." He said, and his arms went about her waist. They stood like that, kissing and holding each other, for the longest time, before she reluctantly broke the embrace, sweeping her hair from her eyes and smiling at him.

"Like I said, Harry, some of us actually have to get to sleep at a decent hour." She said, a sad smile on her face. "But we all really need a day off sometime. I'll always be right here ," she said, placing her hand over his heart, "and I'll be at your side as much as I can. I just wanted you to know that. Maybe once this war is over with, I won't have to leave your side again." She said, her brown eyes meeting his. Then her eyebrow twitched upwards, and she smacked him on the shoulder. "But you'd better make damned sure you're there when it is over."

"Somehow, Ginny, my plans involve Moldyshorts dying, and not me… Strange, that." He said, rubbing his shoulder idly while he grinned at her. For all her small stature, she really did pack a punch.

"Good." She replied, and gave him a final kiss before wandering off to her tent. Harry stood there a moment, simply shaking his head while she retreated to her quarters, before another observation struck him. _Merlin's beard, it _has_ been a while since I've flown…_ Smirking, Harry traipsed off to the flight line, where a few Chimaeras were down for the night rather than on patrol. Fifteen minutes later found him spooling up the broomjet's flight pods, before soaring off into the sky. While the thrill wasn't as visceral as mounting a broom in the wind and the chill of the upper air, the speed and altitude the snubby attack craft let him achieve was terrifying and exhilarating in its own right. Harry spiraled and looped through the air in maneuvers that would be impossible for any Muggle aircraft and at speeds that would throw a broomrider clear of their mount. With the craft's nose tipped spacewards, he gunned the engines to their maximum speed, the acceleration pushing him against the seat with crushing force.

When he could see a large portion of the curvature of the earth in his canopy window, he killed the rear flight pods, tipping the nose of the craft over backwards, and then killed the front pair as well. Drawing his wand in the near-weightlessness of his current free-fall, he tapped the console in front of him. "_Point Me."_ He said, envisioning the camp in his mind's eye. A green arrow appeared on the display before him, and he waited for the nose and the arrow to line up before bringing the engines back to roaring life, sending him rocketing back home at one, two, three times the speed of sound. He leveled out a thousand feet from the ground, screaming towards the camp, and he tapped his headset.

"Tower, this is Phoenix One."

"Tower reads you, go transmission, Phoenix One."

"Requesting permission to buzz the tower."

"Negative, Phoenix One, the pattern is full." Tower replied, the young man on the other end suddenly sounding like he knew he was about to have a long night.

Harry simply grinned and closed his link, a grin on his face. He hadn't acted his age in a while, and a little pranking was good for the soul. "Guess everyone should put away their coffee and butterbeer, then…" he said to himself, and brought the craft down to ten feet above the treetops, skimming the surface of the earth at twice the speed of sound.

The tower watchman knew what was coming as he saw the rapidly approaching landing lights of the incoming Chimaera, and closed the lid on his thermos with a sigh. "Damnit."

And then Harry passed the tower at twice the speed of sound, not more than a hundred feet from the east window. Given how the broomjet worked, the shockwave wasn't as bad as it would have been in a Muggle jet at the same speed, but that still didn't make it inconsiderable. As a matter of perfect fact, the watchman thought his tower windows were about to shake straight out of their frames, and he feared for the wooden platform's stability. (Even though he knew it to be reinforced with magic.)

Braking hard and nosing up, Harry was tossed forward against the seat's webbing as he took up a mile and a half of the camp's airspace to turn back into the landing zone, quiet as a whisper now that he'd bled nearly two thousand kilometers an hour off his airspeed. As he settled the craft on the ground, a quartet of MPs began to approach the craft.

Tucking his helmet under his arm, Harry, in turn, approached them. When they realized who it was they were dealing with, the group practically made a collective swallow and simply walked away, leaving a highly amused Harry headed for the flight gear storage tent and from there a very well-earned rest.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A month later, as preparations were finalizing for the next wave of Allied assaults, Hermione summoned Harry to the Castle Swords, where the American scientists and their British counterparts (and one bushy-haired teenager) had taken up residence. The room was original to the building – tallish ceilings and made of stone, but that quickly gave way to computer stations and other diagnostic equipment running off a magical power core humming in the center of the room. Harry looked for a moment at the generator – a cylinder that wrapped about eight smaller ones, filled with the greenish magic-carrying liquid that powered so much of the new equipment. There were also portions of the room rigged as clean rooms, stark white sterile sheeting and glass protecting sensitive items from environmental harm.

Hermione waved him over to where she and Dr. Yate were standing over a smooth, mottled-green/tan carapace of some material he didn't recognize but that he was sure his bookworm and the head bookworm were about to inform him about. "What's this, Hermione?" he asked his friend, while Yate placed more portions of it on the table. Greaves, gauntlets, helmet , upper arm protectors, thigh protectors, and a black bodysuit, all of them joined the carapace shell.

"This, Harry, is the MRAPS, which Dr. Yate informs me is short for Magic Resistant All-Purpose Suit. Basically, it's light armor that she and I've been working on for the last couple of months… Dr. Yate, would you like to explain how it works?" Hermione offered.

"In layman's terms, please." Harry said, smiling.

"Very well, General Potter. The suit's made of a magically impregnated composite weave, capable of shrugging off most man-deliverable melee attacks, and also provides a great level of protection against all but the most serious of curses. The magic in the material allows it to resist anything up to a Rending Hex, much like natural dragon hide does. The main advantages this suit has over dragon hide is that the plates can be replaced when they are worn down, and they are far less expensive to acquire, as we can make these in a factory." Yate said, brushing platinum blonde hair from her face and straightening her glasses in one deft movement.

"Impressive Doctor, Hermione. How soon can we get the Alliance kitted out with this stuff?" Harry asked inquisitively. Hermione shrugged.

"Depends on how much we can streamline the production process. Currently it takes a couple of hours to make one suit, but I'm sure I can figure out something to speed that up, and if I can't, Dr. Yate and I together can." The American nodded in agreement, indicating that her pupil spoke the probable truth. "But in the meantime, "Hermione continued, "we have made a number of suits already. Not a large number, but the various COs and Echo's team can be kitted immediately. Also, here's something you might find interesting…" Hermione said, and gathered the armor pieces up, ducking into a curtained off area of the room.

A few minutes later she returned, clad in the armor, sans helmet. She turned around, incidentally making Harry quite aware of how formfitting that undersuit was, until she pointed at a section of armor on her back. It folded open at her willed request, revealing a small power cell. "This, Harry, powers a few extra things I thought up. For the sake of the power source's longevity, you can't use any more than one of them at once – until I figure out how to cram a better cell into the same space. First off…" she said, turning to face him, and her eyes shut in a moment of concentration. A faint gold-colored shield bubbled up around her, projected from the suit.

Harry whistled. "Very useful."

"I thought so. But the part I think you'll like is this one." She said, and concentrated again, closing down the shield. Small blue ports opened up on her boots and (though Harry couldn't see it) her back, and flared with energy. She rose from the floor, and proceeded to flit about the room. Harry's jaw dropped in astonishment, and then he began to laugh. She came to a stop, turning to face him, and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Y'know, Hermione, I think you're right about that. I'm going to have a ball with this."

Hermione beamed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Voldemort had not been sitting idle while the Alliance gathered its strength. The number of Death Eater attacks on the Continent skyrocketed (as did the number of partisans as a result of those attacks) and the situation was becoming more and more desperate. The Death Eaters learned from their mistakes, training for the encounters they could not yet win, determined to cost the filthy Muggles and Muggle-Lovers they believed made up the Alliance (and to an extent, they were absolutely right) as much as they could in exchange for whatever land they wanted to take.

But even under a shroud of evil, when the best option is to join the bad side rather than to try to beat them, some fought on. Whether they were active partisans or simply gathering any information they could to give to the alliance, they fought on. And so it was that an innkeeper in the Berlin equivalent of Diagon Alley learned of the location of Voldemort's prisoner cells while tending his bar, serving the Death Eaters seated there their drinks. The more drunk they became, the more information they spilled, gloating among themselves, reveling in their successes. Names were dropped – and surreptitiously written down.

He held the information for a few hours, before relaying it to a friend, who relayed it to another friend, who in turn Portkeyed off a ship in the English Channel and delivered the news to Castle Swords.

Harry was studying the plans for the assault on Diagon Alley, intending to deny the UK Death Eaters a major source of internationally shipped supplies, when the news came in. He wasn't _uninterested,_ per se, but until he saw the list of names it wasn't high on his list of priorities. However, when that list did make it to his hands, Harry was in the middle of a meeting with the company commanders. He had been in the middle of applauding Fred for his success in stopping a raid when the list hit his fingers. He stopped speaking as he read, and by the end of it, his expression was colder than the depths of space.

Everyone at the table could feel the subtle venting of power and anger barely restrained. George cleared his throat and spoke up first. "Hey mate, what's wrong? Somebody serving the wrong treacle tonight?" Harry's response was simply to hand the note to Fred, who read it. The redhead's face soon matched his hair, and he wordlessly placed the notes in his brother's hands. And so it went, the Passing of the Paper, as each company commander got a good look at the list of names and other notes made by the German innkeeper, translated by a spell Hermione had cast on it.

By the time it reached Harry once more, there were no smiles in the room, only tension and fury building to an unseen fever pitch. Fred looked Harry in the eye, his normally playful, joking manner utterly gone. "So, General," he said, being uncharacteristically serious and monotone." What are we going to do about this?"

Harry simply looked at him, and his bottle-green eyes were stormy. "There's only one thing we _can_ do." He said, and placed his hands on the table, leaning over it, fury in his eyes. And for a time in that room, all minds in it were focused on the same goal, and ideas bounced and gathered support and complexity like a snowball down a mountain slope. What would come out of it, no one knew, but the Dark Lord would surely dread it.

_**A/N: Hello boys (and girls), I'm BAAAAAAAACK!**_

_**Ahem.**_

_**Self-explanatory, but after having read some really, really good fan-fiction, I've decided to return to this story. No Honor in it this Chapter, but the next will feature her in a big way.**_

_**'Til then, good luck and good hunting to all of you.**_

_**~Jaing**_


	19. Chapter 18: Vengeance

_**A/N: Many thanks, Tirla.**_

_**Here's the next chapter!**_

_**Chapter 18: Vengeance**_

_**Orbit:**_

The captain of the Mars-class cruiser RNS _Lovat_ had made a very wise decision, indeed. When an _Invictus-_class podnaught asks for your surrender, as a mere heavy cruiser, it's always a very, _very_ wise idea to accept it, unless you have a particularly nasty death wish. Captain Mikhail de Solon's mother had not raised a stupid boy, no sir. Especially when it the commander of the podnaught in question was _Honor Harrington,_ of all people.

But rather than boarding the Republican cruiser, Honor had simply explained the apparent situation to the captain. When she was done speaking, the small, dark-skinned man on the other end of the link was silent for a moment, concentrating on something off behind the vid pickup, before he locked his eyes on it and took a breath before speaking.

"Admiral Harrington, forgive me for asking, but do you have any idea how in the world we ended up here?" Captain Solon asked over whisker laser. They were speaking and attempting very hard not to be discovered by earth's sky-watching agencies (such as SETI). A kilometer-long and a two-kilometer long warship discovered sitting in Earth orbit or within plain sight would be… unfortunate. The panic that would ensue…

"None, Captain Solon. I'm afraid that we are just as clueless as you are. It seems that whatever hyperspace anomaly that brought us here also brought you here. Did you get any strange readings from your hyper systems when you made your jump?" Honor inquired, making a small hand motion that invited him to share.

"Other than a massive energy spike and a glitch in the hyper log's readings? Nothing, Admiral. The spike happened right after we crossed the Alpha wall. Engineering logs say that there was a fluctuation in the power conduits leading to the hyper generator, and then all of the sudden we drop out of hyper… here."

"Um." Honor said, one finger rubbing the bridge of her nose. She digested that for a second, because his report sounded almost _exactly_ like what _Invictus_'s ship's engineer had told her and Captain Cardones when they had figured out where – and, more importantly, _when_ – they actually were. "Captain, I must say, that sounds… disturbingly familiar to our own experiences. Does your engineer have any theories as to why it is we _might_ have ended up two thousand years in the past, in the Sol System?"

"To borrow your word, Admiral, he's just as clueless as I'm guessing your engineer is." Solon said with a mirthless chuckle. "Believe me, if he knew, we'd be working on getting out of here. When we know something, you'll know it."

"And vice-versa, Captain. Very well, I shouldn't keep you from your duties any longer. Just try not to be spotted by Earth." Honor said, nodding to the image of the mustachioed Havenite on her screen. "Harrington, out."

The screen went dark, and Honor sat back in her briefing room chair, fingers steepling in front of her as she thought long and hard. A mug of cocoa appeared before her, and Honor turned to smile at MacGuiness in thanks. Her long-standing steward returned the smile, and vanished back into his cupboard a moment later. Honor sighed, taking a sip of the rich, creamy beverage, and wondered how in the world they were going to get out of this mess.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The strike force was being selected.

Volunteers from across the Alliance encampment were coming forward in droves, knowing that the mission was highly dangerous and that anyone going had a _very_ significant chance of dying. But, knowing this, they came forward anyway – because they had friends in enemy hands, suffering unholy tortures and torment at the hands of a madman, and they wanted payback, even more so than they wanted to reclaim their countries. The Hogwarts contingent turned up the highest percentage of volunteers, and Echo's team stepped forward in its entirety for the job. The force was to be small, but incredibly lethal. It was going in completely equipped with the new MRAP suit, supported by Chimaera gunship-variants. But the strike force was going to have another advantage, as well…

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Some hours after her conversation with the Havenite captain, Honor's comm terminal began to beep urgently. It was ship's night, and she had just gotten out of the shower. Scrubbing her hair quickly with her towel and running her fingers through it to defeat as many tangles as she could, she slipped on her kimono and pressed the acceptance key while securing the sash-like belt that held it closed. McGuiness' face appeared on screen, looking apologetic.

"Sorry to disturb you, Ma'am, but you have a com request from the Alliance. As I understand it, Mr. Potter needs to speak with you quite urgently. He says it's a matter of utmost importance – life and death, to quote him." He explained.

Honor nodded. "Ask him to give me a minute to dress, and then patch him over." She said, and MacGuiness returned her nod. The screen switched to a waiting image, and Honor undid the kimono's belt, and dressed quickly, dragging her uniform back on. Settling her white beret back on her head, she straightened her uniform minutely before pressing the com unit's acceptance key. The waiting image was replaced by the harried (pardon the pun) face of one Harry Potter, his untidy black hair more so than usual.

"Admiral Harrington, I apologize for interrupting you. I didn't know that it was as late for you as it is."

"No need to apologize, Mr. Potter. I was just in the shower. My steward tells me you had a matter of "life and death" to discuss with me?" Honor said, brushing off his apology and getting to the point.

"As a matter of fact, Ma'am, I do. We just got word through one of our intelligence sources that our enemy, Voldemort, has a number of Allied prisoners at a secure location in Germany, and that he's subjecting them to the most inhumane tortures there." Harry told her, and even through the commlink Honor could see the anger rolling off him, carefully leashed by sheer force of will. His green eyes seemed to crackle with energy, and the set of his face, though seemingly calm, gave him away, at least to her. She had a lot of practice with masks like that herself.

"I presume you want our help, Mr. Potter?" Honor asked, seeing where this was going.

"Yes, Admiral. We would very, very much like to borrow one of your assault shuttles for insertion. We're going to be dropping a company-sized force directly into the prison facility in question, and would far prefer to have some real armor on the drop vehicle itself. Phoenixes are powerful craft, but they simply lack the armor to withstand the kind of stuff your shuttles can."

"I see." Honor said, considering it a moment. "Thankfully we were topped up on reaction mass before we left Manticore." She said, and Harry blinked at the term "reaction mass", which he had no clue about. Honor shook her head minutely. "I see," she repeated, before continuing, "no reason why we cannot help you, especially if this "Voldemort" character is as big a threat to the world – and our future – as you say he is. Would you like us to send a squad or so of Marines in battle armor down with you?"

"We'd be very grateful if you did. The intimidation factor of those guys alone would be a great help. We're going to be breaking into a heavily fortified command center to get to the actual prison itself, and we anticipate… heavy losses. Your Marines would most certainly lessen that."

"When do you plan to leave? I need to tell the commander of _Invictus'_ Marine detachment and have him bring up a squad he's willing to send." Honor inquired.

"First thing in the morning, our time. Call it twelve hours."

"That's awfully short notice, Mr. Potter." Honor mused.

"That's why I said it was a matter of life and death, Admiral. We don't know how old this intelligence actually is or even if it's still valid. If there's a chance we can get our friends back, we're taking that chance." Harry said, looking fierce and determined.

Honor nodded once more, and she surprised herself with a short, nearly-mirthless chuckle. "You'll have your shuttle then, Mr. Potter, and as many Marines as will volunteer for the mission."

"Thank you, Admiral Harrington. You have no idea how much this means to the Alliance, and one day we will repay you for it."

Honor shook her head, locking eyes with him over the com pickup. "No, Mr. Potter. Just get your people back safe."

Harry surprised Honor by sketching her a Grayson-style salute (derived from the American one) that would have impressed any instructor she'd ever met – and herself, a little. "We will do that, Ma'am… or die trying."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Eleven hours later saw one of _Invictus' _assault shuttles resting on the encampment's landing field. It was nothing more than a largish stretch of relatively flat ground, flanked by the wooden control tower. It was perfectly well suited for VTOL craft like the shuttles and the Alliance's equipment, none of which required a paved, perfectly level surface to land on (though such surfaces _were_ preferred). The handpicked company of Alliance troops was milling about the craft, looking on the sleek shuttle, nearly the size of a 747. They gaped in awe at the hugely armored airframe, along with the massive air breathing turbines that were currently in standby mode with their thrust nozzles aimed at the ground beneath them.

Fred and George, in particular, were grinning and inspecting the aircraft, their helmets tucked under their arms.

"Dad'd go bonkers if he saw this."

"He'd ask for a ride."

"He'd probably try to turn it invisible, you mean."

"Aren't we doing that anyway?"

"True, dear brother, we are."

"We should put a shrinking charm on it while we're at it."

"Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of having something that can fit all of us in, Freddie?"

"Not if everyone was already inside."

"… sneaky bastard. I like the way you think."

"Why thank you. I like the way I think too."

"I don't think the space-admiral would take too kindly to it though." George said, eyeing Honor, standing in the corner of his peripheral vision, talking to Harry about something. "I know I've said this before, but Fred, that's one _big_ woman. And not fat big, either."

"Not as big as Madame Maxime, but yes, brother of mine, I agree."

"Only thing bigger than her is a full-giantess..." George retorted, and the conversation went downhill from there.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Harry and Honor were speaking, some distance away from the twins. Honor stood before Harry, uniform as pressed and polished as ever, and he had his MRAP helmet tucked firmly under his right arm. "From there, ma'am, it should be a straight shot to the complex. What we'll find when we get in there, we don't know. The information that our source got to us suggests there's maps of the complex in each security station, charmed to show intrusion warning lights when the alarms are set off. If we can get to a security station and get a look at one of those maps fast enough, we'll probably be able to get to our people before the Death Eaters have the chance to do anything to them, be that move them elsewhere or…" he said, trailing off at the end. Honor's lips tightened minutely – this nearly-eighteen year old was dealing with his own personal Blackbird. But a thought that had struck her mere seconds into the start of his plan formed itself as a question.

"And what if this information was planted by the enemy, designed to lure you into a trap?" Honor queried. "From what you've told me, this Voldemort character probably knows your character as well as – if not better than – you do. From other things you've told me, he's pulled such a trick before." Honor said mildly, and one of her eyebrows lifted minutely as she felt a flash of guilty anger from the teenager, saw the way his grip tightened around the wand in his left hand, his right gripping the stock of his one-point-slung weapon – hard.

"Yes, he has." Harry acknowledged grudgingly. "And what's worse, is that I suspect that this is a trap." He said, finishing heavily, before he raised a hand to stop Honor's next question. "But if this isn't a trick or a trap," he continued, "then we _must_ go get our people. They would do the same for us." The raven haired, truly youthful general said the last with a fiery conviction shining in his eyes and in his soul. Nimitz shifted on her back, and she looked back to see the 'cat giving Harry a look that could only be described as approving, and she smiled grimly as she looked back at him.

"Well then, I think you'd best be off." Honor said, gesturing towards her waiting shuttle. Eight battle-armored Marines walked off the ramp, and the wizards' (and especially the Alliance's Muggle personnel) rapt attention shifted to the heavily armored troopers. Harry followed her hand and chuckled at the sight, a small but welcome sound, and she shook her head, not needing to turn around to know what was happening behind her. She cleared her throat, bringing Harry's attention back to herself. "And at the very least, my Marines should give you an edge."

Harry smiled grimly. "Oh yes, Ma'am, I think they will." He said, and he offered his hand to her. Taking it, she carefully metered her Sphinxian strength so as not to crush the boy's fingers, and released the handshake.

"I almost wish I could come with you, but Andrew over there wouldn't hear a word of it." Honor joked, indicating her most senior armsman – and one of her longest, oldest friends – who was currently giving her a disapproving, intensely old-fashioned look while keeping an eye on their surroundings, ever on the lookout for people who wished to do her harm. Being in a fieldful of people who could kill with a word wasn't doing wonders for his blood pressure.

"I can imagine he wouldn't." Harry deadpanned, before straightening up, eyes losing their momentary mirth. "And thank you." He said, before he gave her a courteous, respectful nod, and went to join his people. Honor watched after him, feeling a surge of regret and sorrow for the boy's sake – at that age, to be _leading_ a war effort rather than the normal things a teenager would do… _Well, at least he's not any younger. At his age, at least others like him have fought before, and will again._ What she didn't know is that he had been fighting all his life.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"ALRIGHT PEOPLE! LISTEN UP!" Harry shouted, holding his wand to his throat with a _Sonorous_ charm on its tip. Inside, he was proud of the fact that his people dropped their awe and conversations to pay attention to him. Outside, he was disappointed in their discipline. The Americans hadn't left their squad groupings, but the Hogwartians were in Mass Gaggle formation for all of about two seconds before the disapproving stare he placed on them had them sorted out and standing with their squad and platoon members. At least they were speedy about correcting themselves.

Harry cleared his throat before continuing. "You all already know why we're here, and where we're going – you volunteered for it," he began, his magnified voice sweeping over all those present, bouncing off the hull of the assault shuttle to echo back at him. "and for that, I can't tell you how proud I am of you." Several people in the group shifted, a bit embarrassed from the praise. "I'm also proud of and thankful for our far-flung friends from the Manticore system – who have no stake in anything that goes on here, and yet volunteered to help us anyway." Harry said, indicating the eight hulking armored figures in the back, all of whom were standing at the Manticoran version of parade rest (which was really universally the same among Earth's future colonies).

Harry went on. "Today we're going to go hit one of Voldemort's headquarters. There's a distinct chance that he'll be there, and it's nearly a certainty that he'll arrive once he gets word of our attack. We must be aggressive, we must be lethal, and we must, above all, be _fast_. Get in, get our friends back, and blast our way back out, where this – " he said, indicating the shuttle, " will be waiting to take us _all_ home." He said, and his professional mask slipped into something more angry, and sorrowful at once.

"I know you've all found out by now what our contacts say has happened in that place, and I'm sure you've guessed for yourselves by now if you weren't told. What we're going to find in there won't be pretty." He said, and met each of his troops' eyes in turn. "But I know I can count on you all to keep your heads and your wits about you. I know that I can trust you to do what you're needed to do, regardless of what you see." He said, and paused, before an expression that couldn't be called a smile by even the most charitable of souls crossed his face. "Above all, I know that I can trust you to burn down every vile Death Eater you come across."

An ugly sound swept his audience, more felt than seen or heard – though the sound that _was_ heard was frightening enough. Teeth were bared in ugly, vengeful smiles, fists were clenched, and, for the more directly involved of the group (Harry himself came to mind, though he didn't partake at this time) flicked the charging switches on their weapons, causing a sound like dozens of charging camera flashes to run through the assembled group in addition to the almost subsonic growl that rumbled among them.

Harry's voice became low and soft, though every member of the audience – and those beyond them – could hear what he said with perfect clarity. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's go get our people back. Let's bring them home."

The resulting chorus of battle cries nearly deafened him.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Once all the troops were seated in the drop bay (and the Manticorans had shown them how to operate the webbing cages that would protect them from the G-forces their maneuvering would expose them to, as, inside Earth's atmosphere, they wouldn't have an impeller wedge for the inertial compensator to dump the Gs into) the shuttle lifted off, the massive air-breathing turbines working together with the craft's counter-grav systems to send it rocketing up into the sky. It would take them about thirty minutes to arrive, once they skipped along the suborbital path their flight plan dictated for minimum Muggle exposure. As they rose, they hit patches of turbulence that caused a few of the fairer-constitutioned members of the force to lose their breakfasts, causing the Manticoran crew to distribute sick bags (and cleaning rags) to those people in particular. A part of Harry's mind sat in wonder of how, even with two thousand years of separation between his group and the Manticorans' time, they still made and had sick bags that were largely unchanged from those of Earth's airlines today.

His musings were interrupted by the touch of Ginny's hand on his. He turned his head to smile at her, though in truth, he had wanted to leave her at the encampment, to protect her from the fight he knew was coming. She would have hated him for even trying it though, so he made no move to keep her from coming. _Besides,_ he thought,_ it's not like she wouldn't have snuck on along anyway. _He thought of this, thinking of the Battle of Hogwarts where she'd fought against her parents (and ultimately disobeyed them) when they tried to do the same. _It's better that she's where I can keep an eye on her, than hiding out with one of my squads where I don't know what's going on. _Not that he doubted her combat prowess for a second. He'd seen enough of her one-on-one duel with Bellatrix to know far, far better than that.

"Harry?" she said, and he snapped back into focus, smiling apologetically at her. She returned a small, understanding smile of her own to him, knowing where his mind had been, but she chose not to mention it. If he wanted to worry about her, she wouldn't get in his way, though she knew she could take care of herself better than most here, wand-weapon or no. Plus, it would be hardly fair for her to worry about him and him not to worry about her, anyway. That last thought made her snort softly in amusement, and she colored a bit at the sound while Harry's eyebrow rose questioningly.

"Care to tell me what the joke is?" Harry said, poking fun at her. She simply shook her head, and grinned at him.

"Nothing, nothing at all…" she said, before dropping the grin. "What do you think our chances are of getting there and getting out alive, Harry? Do you really think they've got Alicia there?" she asked of him, her brown eyes searching his green ones.

Harry shrugged. "Our chances? I don't think they're going to get any better until we get some momentum going again… and this lets us kill two birds with one stone if it works. Getting our people back, _and_ showing people that the Dark Lord is far from winning." Harry said confidently, before his eyes flashed with pain at what he had to say next. "But if we do find them – especially Alicia, who's been gone the longest…" he said, trailing off. He didn't need to say it again, and she simply nodded.

Switching topics, she lifted his chin with her finger and gave him an impish smile. "You know, Harry, despite how nice this shuttle is, I far prefer our Phoenixes. At least in those I can actually sit next to you, instead of separated by the crash couch." She stated, ending her statement with the most woebegone expression in the world on her face, and Harry laughed despite himself. He knew that she was joking to keep from letting her nerves take her to dark places, but he appreciated it himself. She had no idea how much a little levity had done for his mood.

Around them in the drop bay of the shuttle, he saw similar scenes unfolding throughout. Friends were chatting and joking amiably amongst themselves, their eyes darting from face to face all the while, trying to remember the faces of those who mightn't come back. Some sat in silence, fiddling with their equipment, playing with their helmets, cleaning their gear. Neville was asleep across the aisle from Harry and Ginny, rifle and expanding blade lain across his lap with his lead leaning against the aisle divider behind him. Harry was in awe of how easily the other boy found it to rest anywhere, anytime. In fact, if he was honest with himself, he had moments where he saw the changes in Neville's personality and habits when he wondered just when the clumsy first year he'd known had gone over the years. Beside him, Luna sat, helmet sat on her lap while she read an old issue of the Quibbler intently.

The twins, of course, were confident enough in their abilities to re-strap themselves in that they got up and roved about the cabin, pranking Neville's fellow sleepers in small, harmless ways (wouldn't want to mess up something that might get someone killed later, after all) as they made their way over to Harry. They arrived, and took a knee in front of him, and he raised an eyebrow at them.

"So," one of the twins began,

"What we gathered from the briefing-

"is that the plan-"

"-is 'we don't have a plan'."

"Are we right?" They chorused.

"Basically." Harry answered. "We weren't able to find out enough about this command bunker to make a map of it. Basically, what we know amounts to where the entrance is, what it appears to be made of, and that the prison cells themselves are on the lowest level. So yes," Harry finished," our plan is 'we don't have one'. At least, not by the meterstick of maps and prepared battle plans. Our plan is 'bust our way in, make chaos, find our people, leave.' Preferably while causing more chaos."

"_Excellent." _the twins chorused again. "If you hadn't noticed –" one continued.

"- we are rather good at causing chaos."

"Why do you think I brought the two of you along?" Harry said, eyebrow raised not-quite mockingly.

"Well, we thought it was for our devastatingly good looks –"

"-which you'd use to distract the enemy, male and female alike-"

"-and then you'd be able to get our friends out of there with nary a shot fired."

Harry snorted. Sometimes, the twins were too much. "D'you guys really believe that you're _that _handsome?"

"Why yes, my dear Harry, we do." The response made Harry roll his eyes. Typical twins.

"Well then, let's use your plan. To… _emphasize_ your charm, we'll be sending you in first, without weapons or armor. As a matter of fact, you'll both be wearing nothing but matching Speedos with heart-patterned fabric." He said nonchalantly. Both twins' eyes grew big as saucer plates and they sputtered, backtracking.

"On second thought, Harry, let's use the plan where things explode. Violently."

"Yes, Harry, let's. I don't look good in a Speedo."

"Nor I, George."

Before Harry could rib them any further, they darted back to their seats, in full fear of their friend the General's eeeeeevil plans for them. Harry shook his head, and pulled on his helmet, checking the time. He nearly jumped out of his seat when he saw it. He drew his wand, unbuckling himself from the crash webbing holding him to the space-capable craft. What disturbed him the most about how quickly the time had flown was that he hadn't even realized it when they had made suborbit. He'd wanted to take a look out of a viewport or something and see what the Earth looked like from space. _Some other time…_

He pressed his wand to his throat, whispering "_Sonorous"_ before clearing his throat loudly. The sound bounced through the cavernous interior of the shuttle in an instant, and all activity ceased – except in the case of the sleepers, who seemingly instantly came to from their rest, focused on him with just that sound for warning. "Five minutes to drop time, ladies and gentlemen." He said calmly. There was a mass flurry of activity as wands were checked, weapons were loaded and powered on, helmets put in place, and diagnostic cycles completed. Walking over to the Manticoran Marine contingent, he got the attention of their leader, who opened their helmet visor, revealing the wearer to be a very pretty woman with short-cropped hair who Harry's brain told him couldn't be any older than himself, though knowing what he knew about prolong, she was probably closer to thirty or forty.

"Sergeant MacNeil, I apologize for not having asked, but do your troops have any way to get down to the surface without having the assault shuttle land to offload you? I'd very much like to have you and your squad down with us right as we land." Harry asked.

"Certainly, General." She said, gesturing to what looked for all the world like an old fashioned military load-bearing system, made of a fabric he didn't recognize and studded with oddly shaped boxes. "Counter-grav parachute." She explained. "It works the same way the shuttle's systems do, only smaller. We'll land soft as feathers, so don't you worry about having us down there."

Harry nodded, and he checked his time again. Lifting the tip of his wand to his throat, he spoke again. "ONE MINUTE TO DROP!" he boomed. "UP UP UP UP UP!" As his voice echoed off the walls, the webbing came undone on every single soul's seat, and the entirety of the Alliance contingent stood, turning towards the bay door at the back of the shuttle, which would open at any moment. Harry made his way to their front, and his friends joined him, Hermione sporting her rifle, Ron his wandgun, and Ginny the stubby little "bolt" gun that was essentially Hermione's weapon in miniature. Echo walked up to join him, wandgun in hand.

"You ready for this, Harry?" Echo asked under his breath.

Taking his wand away from his throat, Harry replied a simple affirmative "Yes".

Abruptly, the door came open, splitting in two as a ramp expanded and extended out the back of the craft, fifty thousand feet above the ground. The Manticoran assault shuttle hovered in place on its counter-grav systems, jets at idle, and Harry walked out into the blinding dawn sun, helmet's visor automatically darkening to compensate, and he looked over the edge of the ramp, seeing the general area of their target, far below. This high up, the Death Eaters' defenses wouldn't even see them. He turned around, and walked back up the ramp, keying his helmet comms. "We are on-station over the target, people. It's time." He said, and shared one last look at his force, swelling with pride.

Then, he turned, almost in an about-face, and sprinted towards the edge of the ship's ramp. His right foot hit the edge, and he dove off it, followed by a hundred fifty Alliance personnel and eight Manticoran volunteers.

There was an intense, visceral thrill to stepping off that ledge, Harry thought. He was dropping through the air, flying with no parachute, no broom, no nothing, nothing but his wand and his suit's flight systems to keep him from becoming a very unfortunate, very missed lawn dart in the German countryside. But he trusted his power, and he trusted his best friend's enchanting skills and the Americans' mechanical knowhow. He knew they wouldn't fail him.

He streamlined his body, hands snapped to his sides as he plummeted through the layers of the atmosphere, and he let out a whoop of sheer delight that was echoed among his people behind him. His wandgun shook against his back, but the magnetic, magical and physical clamps keeping it there would not let it escape him. His altimeter read ten thousand feet, at which point he was going nearly two hundred miles an hour, and he concentrated on one word. _Fly_.

All of the sudden, he felt himself slow rapidly as his ports opened up, going into reverse-thrust mode to slow him to under thirty, something he could handle, and he saw the others doing the same – except for the Manticorans, who cheekily continued to drop like armored rocks for another three thousand feet, before kicking in their counter-grav chutes and taking the gee-forces he was saving his people from with aplomb. They landed first, and Sergeant MacNeil got on the comm. "_No activity down here yet. All clear."_

Minutes later, the Alliance troops touched the ground, only to find the Manticorans all set up, watching the area. "You're all a bunch of show-offs." Harry muttered into his comm.

"_Yessir, we are._" Replied the cheerful-sounding Sergeant. Harry shook his head while he unlimbered his rifle. He spotted the door ahead of them – concrete, very thick, and probably warded and reinforced, hidden in a culvert that led into a mountainside. He sighed.

"They've probably already detected us – there's no way one of their command centers wouldn't have some sort of warning system. Let's move. Spread out along the entranceway, but keep the door clear. MacMillan! Get up here with that cannon of yours." Harry ordered into his comm.

The requested 'Puff arrived a moment later, unlimbering a tube from his armor's carry plate. He tapped it with his wand, causing it to expand, tripling in size. A handle and sight system unfolded itself from the tube's side, the tube splitting about half of the way along its length into a tuning-fork shape with interlocking teeth that were suddenly separate, and Ernie braced himself where he stood. Hannah Abbot came up behind him, tapping a small, sharpened tungsten cone with her wand, removing the Feather Weight charm from it and expanding it to its original size. She fed the thirty-three centimeter long, two-kilogram projectile into the chamber of Ernie's siege gun, before closing the breech. She pat him on the shoulder, and leaned against him.

"I love my job." They all heard Ernie mutter over the commlink as he lined up his target, and then every visor in the area darkened as the huge projectile shattered the sound barrier five times in the space of a second. What no one's eyes moved fast enough to see was the flaming projectile slamming into the spell-reinforced door, shattering the door, trailing a tail of fire like a short-lived comet. That projectile carried down the hallway beyond, surprising two Death Eaters with a white-hot spike of tungsten through their miserable midsections, before burying itself into the wall a hundred feet behind the door.

With a silence more fit for Death himself, the Alliance force poured through their hole into the unknown.


End file.
